![]() ![]() One positive effect that I encountered on this day, was that the light was soft, as too often, these two structures have some hard shadows cast upon them, by the taller, surrounding buildings.īesides walking around each of the buildings, I also got to gaze upon the Tower Building, from the restaurant, a few floor up in the Park Hyatt hotel - a view that I had never taken in before. ![]() Visually, it almost seems out of place, but then maybe it’s the newer, much more modern structures, which are themselves, out of place? ![]() As much of this area has been rebuilt, with much more modern structures, the Water Tower is a throwback - a throwback to 1869. Even in the dull light of a cloudy September day, the structure is beautiful, reaching into the sky 185'. The Water Tower is really two buildings, on either side of N Michigan Ave, the Water Tower itself, with a small art gallery, and then the Chicago Avenue Pumping Station, much of which is now a Department of Tourism office, a small theater, the Looking Glass Theater Company.įor me, the architecture is the primary draw, and it always has been, however, there is much history associated with the Water Tower - the second oldest remaining such tower in the USA. On this September trip, we were staying near-by, but at the Westin, a block, or so away. I first encountered the Water Tower, on N Michigan Ave (Magnificent Mile), when we first stayed at the near-by Ritz Carlton. Reviewed By The_Loup_Garou - Phoenix, United States The tower's 49 bells were cast in the Netherlands and transported to Champaign-Urbana at a total cost of $550,000. Richard McFarland and named for his wife Sarah "Sally" McFarland, who died of ovarian cancer in 2003. The construction of the McFarland Carillon was funded with a $1.5 million donation by Illinois alum H. So a free-standing campanile tower that had been considered as a possibility for the campus since 1913 became a reality. But it wasn't feasible to fit 49 bells in a tower that holds only 15. The carillon project began as an attempt to upgrade and renovate the University Chimes in the bell tower of Altgeld Hall. Truth be told, the South Quad Bell Tower wasn't supposed to be. Built in 2008-2009, it is a 185-foot-tall bell tower with 49 bells, which can be controlled by a computer with 500 pre-programmed songs or can be played directly with a keyboard. Located at 1301 West Gregory Drive in Urbana, the McFarland Carillon also has been referred to as the McFarland Bell Tower or McFarland Memorial Bell Tower or South Quad Bell Tower. Some architectural critics have compared the McFarland Carillon on the University of Illinois campus to the Picasso statue in Chicago. Reviewed By 866TaylorB - Chicago, United States ![]()
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