McFarland Carillon facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Sarah "Sally" McFarland Carillon |
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| Alternative names | McFarland Memorial Bell Tower |
| General information | |
| Type | Bell tower housing a carillon |
| Location | South Quad |
| Town or city | Urbana, Illinois |
| Country | United States |
| Coordinates | 40°06′10″N 88°13′38″W / 40.102835°N 88.227182°W |
| Construction started | July 2008 |
| Completed | October 2008 |
| Inaugurated | October 22, 2010 |
| Cost | $3,500,000 (Bells: $500,000; Tower: $3,000,000) |
| Owner | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign |
| Height | 185 feet (56 m) |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Fred Guyton |
| Architecture firm | Peckham Guyton Albers & Viets, Inc. |
| Other designers | Petit & Fritsen (bellfounding) |
The McFarland Carillon is a tall bell tower at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It is also known as the McFarland Bell Tower. This impressive tower stands 185 feet (about 56 meters) high. You can find it on the South Quad of the campus.
The university decided to build the tower in 2005. Construction began in 2008 and finished in 2009. Fred Guyton designed the tower. Inside, the carillon has 48 bells. These bells can play 500 different songs using a computer. A person can also play the bells directly using a special keyboard.
Building the Bell Tower
The idea for this carillon started with a plan to fix the old bells in Altgeld Hall. But it turned out that a new tower would be better. People had thought about building a free-standing bell tower on campus since 1913.
The money for the tower came from a generous person named Harold Richard "Dick" McFarland. He was a university graduate from 1952. After his wife, Sarah "Sally" McFarland, passed away, he donated $1.5 million. He wanted the tower to be named in her honor.
The Bells of McFarland Carillon
The 48 bells for the carillon were made by a company called Petit & Fritsen. This company specializes in making bells. The bells traveled all the way to the United States by boat. The cost for just the bells was about $550,000.
The "Eye of Sauron" Prank
In 2008, something funny happened at the tower. Early on a Sunday morning, some students put a giant "Eye of Sauron" in the top part of the tower. This "Eye" is a famous symbol from The Lord of the Rings books by J. R. R. Tolkien. It represents the main bad guy in the story.
The university police did not find out who did the prank. The "Eye" was taken down from the tower the very next morning.
