Rainbow Tower facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Rainbow Tower |
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| General information | |
| Type | Carillon Tower |
| Location | Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada |
| Completed | 1947 |
| Height | |
| Roof | 50.3 m (165 ft) |
| Technical details | |
| Lifts/elevators | 1 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | William Lyon Somerville |
The Rainbow Tower is a tall building in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. It stands about 50 meters (165 feet) high. The tower is part of the Rainbow Bridge area, right at the border between Canada and the United States. It was finished in 1947. A Canadian architect named William Lyon Somerville designed this unique tower.
Contents
The Rainbow Carillon: Bells in the Tower
The Rainbow Tower is home to a special musical instrument called a carillon. A carillon is like a giant piano that plays bells. It has a keyboard with wooden sticks, called batons, and foot pedals. These controls are connected to many bells.
The Rainbow Carillon plays music three times every day, all year round. It has 55 bells in total. All these bells together weigh more than 43 tons, which is like the weight of many elephants!
The Bells of the Carillon
The largest bell in the carillon is called a bourdon. It is 8 feet (2.4 meters) wide and 6.5 feet (2 meters) tall. This huge bell weighs 10 tons! Its musical note is E. The smallest bell is very light, weighing less than 9 pounds (4 kg). It is only about 5.75 inches (146 mm) around.
The bells for the Rainbow Carillon were started in 1941. They were made by a company called John Taylor Bellfounders in England. However, work had to stop because of World War II. The bell-making started again in 1945 and was finished by 1947.
How the Carillon is Played
When the tower was first built, it had a small apartment for the musician who played the carillon. This musician was called a carilloneur. From 1998 to 2001, the bells were quiet for repairs. By 2002, the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission had set up an automatic system to play the bells. The carillon can still be played by a person, but it mostly plays by itself now. This allows the music to be heard often.
Carillonneurs: The Musicians
Many talented musicians have played the Rainbow Carillon over the years. These are some of the people who served as carillonneurs:
- Robert B. Kleinschmidt (1948-1959)
- John Leland Richardson (1960-1969)
- Gordon Frederick Slater (1972-1975)
- Robert Donnell (1975-1976)
- June Somerville (1976-1992)
- Gloria Werblow (1986-1998)
The Tower in Movies
The Rainbow Tower was even in a movie! It appeared in the 1953 thriller film Niagara, starring Marilyn Monroe. Some scenes were filmed right outside the tower.
See also
In Spanish: Rainbow Tower para niños
