The Burton Memorial Tower is a clock tower located on Central Campus at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in Ann Arbor at 230 North Ingalls Street. Housing a grand carillon, the tower was built in 1936 as a memorial for University President

Marion Leroy Burton Marion LeRoy Burton (August 30, 1874 – February 18, 1925) was the second president of Smith College, serving from 1910 to 1917. He left Smith to become president of the University of Minnesota from 1917 to 1920. In 1920 he became president o ...

(presidency: 1920–1925). This carillon is the world's fourth-heaviest, containing 53

bell A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inte ...

s and weighing a total of 43

ton Ton is the name of any one of several units of measure. It has a long history and has acquired several meanings and uses. Mainly it describes units of weight. Confusion can arise because ''ton'' can mean * the long ton, which is 2,240 pounds ...

History

The

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, hist ...

was constructed in 1935 and finished in 1936. It stands at 192 feet, with the floor of the bell chamber at 120 feet from the ground. It is located at the

campus, and is used for housing

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

offices An office is a space where an organization's employees perform administrative work in order to support and realize objects and goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific dut ...

. The high-rise tower was designed in an interesting mixture of

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

and

art moderne Streamline Moderne is an international style of Art Deco architecture and design that emerged in the 1930s. Inspired by aerodynamic design, it emphasized curving forms, long horizontal lines, and sometimes nautical elements. In industrial design ...

architectural styles, constructed with a reinforced concrete shell faced with

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

over a plan square. The design was greatly influenced by

Eliel Saarinen Gottlieb Eliel Saarinen (, ; August 20, 1873 – July 1, 1950) was a Finnish-American architect known for his work with art nouveau buildings in the early years of the 20th century. He was also the father of famed architect Eero Saarinen. Lif ...

, who had submitted an earlier scheme. At the top is the 43-ton, 53-bell Baird Carillon. The tower chimes the

Westminster Quarters The Westminster Quarters, from its use at the Palace of Westminster, is a melody used by a set of four quarter bells to mark each quarter-hour. It is also known as the Westminster Chimes, Cambridge Quarters or Cambridge Chimes from its place of ...

every quarter hour in the key of E-flat. While this building houses a memorial carillon, it is primarily a conventional high-rise, contains classrooms for the University of Michigan's school of music, and houses offices for the department of musicology and ethnomusicology and for the University Musical Society. The Burton Memorial Tower was designed by Albert Kahn, who also designed the William L. Clements Library, Angell Hall, and Hill Auditorium for the University of Michigan. Its carillon was donated by Michigan alumnus Charles A. Baird, a lawyer and the first U-M athletic director, and has been christened the "Charles Baird Carillon". Baird had the bells cast in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and gave them to the university. He also commissioned “Sunday Morning in Deep Waters”, the fountain on Ingalls Mall between Burton Tower and the Michigan League. After University of Michigan Regent Sarah Goddard Power committed suicide by jumping to her death from the eighth floor of Burton Tower in 1987, slight modifications were made to the structure, such as the addition of stops to prevent windows from opening more than a few inches. The University of Michigan campus has two of only twenty-three grand carillons in the world, barely two miles apart. The other is housed at the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Tower on the North Campus. On April 8, 2017, in celebration of the university's bicentennial, the tower was illuminated in maize and blue, the university's colors. The carillon and spire can also be lit in other colors by the LED illumination system installed for the bicentennial. File:Under a Bell in the Charles Baird Carillon, Burton Memorial Tower (Ann Arbor, MI).jpg, alt=Looking up into a large greenish bell with a grey clapper, Upwards view into a middle-register bell of the Charles Baird Carillon File:Wall-Mounted Bell Clapper, Burton Tower (Ann Arbor, MI).jpg, alt=Close-up of large grey bell clapper, The clapper of one of the largest bells in the Charles Baird Carillon File:Burton Memorial Tower (2010).jpg, alt=Burton Tower against a blue sky with trees just beginning to turn autumn colors. Students are walking in the foreground, View of Burton Memorial Tower from N. University Avenue File:BurtonTowerUofM.jpg, alt=Photograph showing the entire unobstructed facade of Burton Memorial Tower, Burton Memorial Tower File:Burton Memorial Tower.jpg, alt=Bell chamber illuminated in purple light, as viewed from the ground, The bicentennial illumination system lights up the tenth floor belfry

Statistics

The tower

* Building height: * Tower specification: x 7 inches square * Floor area: * Designer: Albert Kahn * Final cost (1936): $243,664.61 * Recent renovation cost: $1.8 million * Construction date: 1935 to 1936 * Construction materials: reinforced concrete shell, faced with

* Dedicated on: December 4, 1936 * Dedicated to: U-M President

(Presidency 1920–1925)

Charles Baird Carillon

* Location: Atop the Burton Memorial Tower * World position: Tied for fourth heaviest carillon in the world * Technical Specification: ** No. of bells: 53 ** Total weight 43 tons ** Largest bell: 12 tons; strikes every hour ** Smallest bell: 16.5 pounds ** Height of support: Bells hang above campus ** Others: Bells are stationary, and only the clappers move via mechanical linkage * Cast by: John Taylor Bellfoundry, in

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second large ...

, England, in 1936 and 1975 *Current carillonist: Tiffany Ng

References

External links