When the Carrie Tower first rose above campus in 1904, it stood as one of the University's tallest and most striking buildings, a symbol of devotion and love from a grieving husband. But over 100 years later, the tower stands silent and in disrepair as a much-needed restoration proves slow-coming.
Renovations to the limestone base of Carrie Tower, which is nestled on the Quiet Green, will wrap up Oct. 14, but the tower still needs further construction to be completely restored.
Though the tower's clock needs refurbishing and the staircase is deteriorating, making the tower inaccessible, a large-scale project would be too expensive for the University to undertake, said Stephen Maiorisi, vice president for Facilities Management. Instead, the Department of Facilities Management is breaking up the necessary renovations into multiple projects, he said.
Efforts to repair, replace and clean the tower's deteriorating base began in late June, and construction that began about three years ago included the replacement of the stone at the top of the tower, Maiorisi said.
The renovations to the tower's limestone base cost about $200,000, Maiorisi said. Fixing the clock and staircase was last estimated to cost $500,000, but that estimate is five years old, he said.
The Carrie Tower was constructed in 1904 as a memorial to Caroline Brown, the great-granddaughter of one of Brown's founders, Nicholas Brown Sr. When Carrie Brown died in 1892, her husband — an Italian diplomat and industrialist named Paul Bajnotti — donated money to fund the project in her name, said Jane Lancaster, a University historian, who is working on a new history of Brown that will be published to coincide with the University's sestercentennial. The memorial is inscribed with a dedication to Carrie Brown and the sentence, "Love is strong as death."
Bajnotti also commissioned a fountain that stands in Burnside Park, next to Kennedy Plaza, Lancaster said.
A presidential report to the Corporation during the 1903-04 academic year said the Carrie Tower "serves no ‘useful' purpose." Instead, the monument was meant to serve as a dedication "to undying memory" and show the "international attachment, which outlasts the years."
But the tower's bell — which, like the clock, no longer chimes — used to serve as the main bell at a time when the Quiet Green was the center of campus, said University Curator Robert Emlen. The bell likely fell into disuse during the middle of the 20th century as the campus expanded beyond University Hall, he said. Now, a bell atop University Hall announces the beginning and end of class periods.
The tower also houses a tunnel that leads into the basement of the John Hay Library and to Manning Hall, Emlen said. A slab of rock now seals the tunnel.
