Purdue News
Purdue NewsA brief, informal ceremony will mark the unveiling of the display, set for 4 p.m. Friday, Oct. 17, in the atrium of the Materials and Electrical Engineering Building. The public is invited. Participants will include Purdue President Steven C. Beering, Charles B. Wise, vice president for development, and John F. Fessler, professor of large animal surgery in the School of Veterinary Medicine. Fessler restored the equipment.
The museum-like display will include the mechanical clockworks, a reproduction of a clock face and related equipment -- including pulleys, cables, a pendulum and clapper -- that controlled the old tower's clocks and bells. The display will include a narrative that describes the tower's significance in the history of the university and a guide to the various display pieces.
The old tower was a landmark on the West Lafayette campus for some 60 years, until it was razed in 1956 to make way for the current Heavilon Hall. The bells, clockworks and related mechanical equipment were saved. In 1995, the four bells found a new home atop the Purdue Bell Tower at the heart of campus, which is a modern architectural interpretation of the old tower.
The original tower was dedicated in January 1894, but was destroyed by fire four days later. In the wake of the disaster, then Purdue President James Smart vowed that a new tower would be built "one brick higher," which became a university rallying cry down through generations of Purdue students, faculty and staff. The rebuilt tower, said to be nine bricks higher, was completed by the end of 1895, and the clock apparatus and bells were added in 1896.
The artifacts' glass display cabinet will be located on the Purdue Mall side of the
atrium, within view of the Purdue Bell Tower through the atrium's two-story mall-side
window.
CONTACT: Greg Zawisza, Office of University Relations, (765) 494-2086;
e-mail, greg_zawisza@purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; e-mail, purduenews@purdue.edu
