Water damage silences clock tower chimes

The IU Student Building's iconic clock tower hasn't chimed for weeks due to water damage, IU Physical Plant officials said.\n"Apparently, it has had some water that has dripped into its electronics," said Bruce Williams, service center manager at the physical plant, the University's maintenance department. \nThe ringing bells of the clock tower, which was completed in 1906 and renovated in the early-1990s, are electronically automated. \nHank Hewetson, the physical plant's assistant vice president for facility operations, said plant workers must inspect the problem more closely before he will know when the bells' chiming can be fixed.\n"If they can't fix it internally, they'll have to get the company that manufactured it in to repair," he said.\nHewetson said he wasn't sure when exactly the bells stopped chiming.\nThe bells were made by the Verdin Company, based in Cincinnati, Ohio. A Verdin spokeswoman said Wednesday afternoon that the University had not contacted the company requesting a repair.\nPhysical plant workers inspected the tower Monday, but the plant did not say what, if any, additional information was learned.\nIn addition to the absence of the chimes, the tower's four-sided clock lagged more than an hour behind schedule as of Wednesday afternoon.\nIt's not the first time the clock tower has been silenced, whether by school officials or Mother Nature.\nThe University stopped the chiming in respect for an illness suffered by former Dean of IU's Department of Music Barzille Winifred Merrill, who was appointed dean in 1919. In December of 1990, a fire ripped through the Student Building, destroying much of the clock and tower, including all the bells. At the time, the Student Building was undergoing a $4.5 million renovation.\nThe most recent clock and bells cost about $200,000, according to a July 27, 1991, Herald-Times article. IU staged a rededication ceremony outside the Student Building in October 1991.\nOn June 16, 1905, the IU board of trustees approved the original purchase: $1,490 for the clock and $3,650 for the bells. Adjusted for inflation to 2005 rates, the costs are $34,000 and $84,000, respectively.\nToday, it seems the clock tower serves as a historic showpiece but little else. The landmark, a favorite of budding photographers, is regularly seen on postcards, IU marketing materials and gift shop trinkets.\nWhile many might not even notice the chimes have been silenced during the past few weeks, graduate student Justin Otten said he misses the familiar jingle.\nThe clock's chimes, he said, became part of his work routine as an assistant in the Office of International Services, which is housed in Franklin Hall, next to the Student Building. The bells, which chimed twice an hour until recently, reminded him and his coworkers to open and close the office doors at certain times during the day.\n"Plus, it just adds a nice feel to campus," Otten said. "Its absence (is noticeable) when it's not ringing"