The Burton Memorial Tower is a clock tower located on Central Campus at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor at 230 South Ingalls Street. Housing a grand carillon, the tower was built in 1936 as a memorial for University President Marion Leroy Burton (presidency: 1920–1925). The grand carillon, one of only 23 in the world, is the world’s fourth heaviest, containing 55 bells and weighing a total of 43 tons (a grand carillon has a bourdon bell — the name given to the heaviest bell in a carillon and the one that sounds the hour — that weighs at least six tons, and can sound a low 'G').
The monument was constructed in 1935 and finished in 1936. It stands at 10 floors. It is located at the University of Michigan campus, and is used for housing education offices. The High-rise tower was designed in an interesting mixture of Art Deco and art moderne architectural styles, constructed with a reinforced concrete shell faced with limestone over a plan 42 feet (13 m) square. The design was greatly influenced by Eliel Saarinen, who had submitted an earlier scheme. At the top is the 43-ton, 55-bell Baird Carillon.
While this building serves as 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.
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 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, the structure was slightly modified, such as the addition of stops to prevent windows from opening more than a few inches.
The University of Michigan has two grand carillons, barely two miles apart. The other is housed at the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Tower on the North Campus.
Famous quotes containing the words burton, memorial and/or tower:
“One was never married, and that’s his hell; another is, and that’s his plague.”
—Robert Burton (1577–1640)
“When I received this [coronation] ring I solemnly bound myself in marriage to the realm; and it will be quite sufficient for the memorial of my name and for my glory, if, when I die, an inscription be engraved on a marble tomb, saying, “Here lieth Elizabeth, which reigned a virgin, and died a virgin.””
—Elizabeth I (1533–1603)
“All over France, in every city there stand cathedrals like this one, triumphant monuments of the past. They tower over the homes of our people like mighty guardians, keeping alive the invincible faith of the Christian. Every arch, every column, every statue is a carved leaf out of our history, a book in stone, glorifying the spirit of France.”
—Sonya Levien (1895–1960)