Meet Me at the Tower? You'll Be Able To, Soon, at OU
Longtime donors to bestow Oakland University with distinctive campus landmark: a bell tower.
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A $6.5 million gift will allow for the construction of a 151-foot bell tower in the heart of the Oakland University campus.
The gift from longtime university benefactors Hugh and Nancy Elliott will fund the design, construction, operation and maintenance of the clock tower, which will be built next year.
The future Elliott Carillon Tower will be accompanied by a water fountain, a garden and complementary landscaping. A groundbreaking has tentatively been scheduled for April, and details of its construction are still be worked out.
"Oakland University has made great strides in recent years to become a distinctive, respected and nationally recognized institution of higher learning," said President Gary Russi in a press release.
"The Elliotts' remarkable gift will certainly come to symbolize the pride our community has taken in what we've accomplished, as well as the promise of even greater success in the future."
The Elliots, of Rochester, have been involved in campus giving and programs for the past 10 years.
"Every major university in the U.S. has a bell tower and now Oakland is going to have one," Nancy Elliott said. "It's just going to be a fun thing to be able to say 'meet me at the tower.'
"I wanted this bell tower to make a statement, to be a central focus on the campus. And, it had to be designed not just as something pretty, but so that students could use it as a meeting place and somewhere they could gather."
For more about the gift, watch this video interview here.
N. C.
10:21 am on Saturday, December 22, 2012
Thank you Nancy and Hugh Elliot!!
Thank you for your generous gift to our community.
We look forward to meeting friends at the tower.
Brian
12:55 pm on Saturday, December 22, 2012
Seems like a waste of money. Why not spend it on something useful like another academic building on campus?
David Herweyer
7:38 pm on Saturday, December 22, 2012
The Katkee/Cousins golf course. Only cost the them $200,000 to get their name imortalized.
David Herweyer
7:39 pm on Saturday, December 22, 2012
I love OU.
Barbara Fornasiero
9:56 pm on Saturday, December 22, 2012
The Elliott Carillon Tower will make a wonderful addition to OU and will help create a stronger sense of "place" on campus. Thanks to the Elliott Family for their continuing generosity.
Paul DeVreugd
12:33 am on Monday, December 24, 2012
So fill the only real mid-campus green space with a bell tower...not like the university has a history of historic buildings which are architecturally beautiful and is missing only a tower. The millions being spent could be spent on so many things that would improve the educational opportunities of the students. Why didn't the president and board instead accept the gift for what was really needed, and if the donors need name recognition, then name something useful. Meet at the bell tower? Sure, after spending hours to try to find parking and get to class. First the ugly barn for the med students, now a bell tower that none of the students want. Build the academic programs and make adequate parking...then maybe a tower. A tower does not give a university prestige...improved opportunity for students and academic success is what does that. Oh wait...I'm sorry...the bell tower is "fun" and at the top of the top ten "fun" things that students want.
Richard Happening
8:25 am on Monday, December 24, 2012
Paul,
Nice whining rant. That tower will be sweet, and will add much to the character of campus. Nobody donates coin to a school to build a parking lot. Get a clue. The Elliot's have donated plenty of other money for purely academic purposes. This is THEIR money, and this time they have chosen something aesthetic that will enhance the school for many decades. Although phallic, it will help to offset the "prison architecture"of most campus buildings.