Hoover Institution Tower Carillon Bells return; installation begins on Tuesday, February 19.

News Editors

STANFORD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 15, 2002

The bells of the Hoover Institution Tower carillon, which were sent to Belgium for recasting in 2000, will be reinstalled beginning Tuesday, February 19.

A crane to hoist the bells will arrive between 4 and

The bells will be lifted to the Hoover Tower observation deck, on the 14th floor, all day Tuesday and part of Wednesday.

It will then take a few days for the bells to be reinstalled. A protective cabin will be constructed around the bells and then the bells must be connected to the new keyboard and fine-tuned.

Since mid-December, the 14th floor observation deck has been closed to visitors. It will remain closed until April 15 while the work continues.

In 2000, the carillon's 35 bells were removed and sent to the Royal Eijsbouts Bellfoundry in Ostend, Belgium. The restoration project includes adding nine large and four small bells to the musical instrument, bringing the total number of bells to 48. This will increase the carillon's range to four octaves; the largest new bell weighs about 2.5 tons.

In addition, the carillon's mechanism, frame, keyboard, and bell clappers are being replaced. The carillon's automatic-play drum, the only one of its kind in the United States, is also being restored. (The drum was damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and hasn't played since.) The drum rotates in a manner similar to that of a music box, activating hammers located on the outside of about half of the carillon's bells.

Part of the project includes constructing a cabin on the Tower observation deck to house the carilloner. Previously, the keyboard and the automatic-play drum were located one floor below the observation deck.

The carillon -- built in 1938 by the Michiels Bellfoundry of Belgium -- was part of the New York World's Fair of 1939-1940.

At the end of the fair, the Belgian American Educational Foundation purchased the carillon and presented it to the Hoover Institution in appreciation of Herbert Hoover's famine relief efforts during and following World War I. Had the bells been returned to Belgium, which had by then (1940) been taken over by Germany, they may have been melted down and made into weapons.

The Hoover Institution, founded at Stanford University in 1919 by Herbert Hoover, who went on to become the 31st president of the United States, is an interdisciplinary research center for advanced study on domestic public policy and international affairs.

For project details:

Craig Snarr, 650/723-1352 (Hoover Facilities Manager)

Timothy Zerlang, 650/814-6412 (Carilloner)