Century Tower (University of Florida)

Century Tower (University Of Florida)

Coordinates: 29°38′56″N 82°20′36″W / 29.648834°N 82.34329°W / 29.648834; -82.34329

The Century Tower is a 157-foot-tall (48 m) carillon tower in the center of the University of Florida campus in Gainesville, Florida.

Begun in 1953 by the Auchter Company to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the founding of UF's parent institution, Kingsbury Academy in Ocala, it also serves as a memorial for students and alumni who perished in both World War I and World War II. It fulfilled the original campus design of the university's first architect, William Augustus Edwards, which called for a Gothic bell tower as the focal point. However, at the time of its completion in 1956, there was no money to buy bells for the carillon. An electronic bell system was given by J.E. Davis and AD. Davis, two of the Davis Brothers who controlled Winn-Dixie. This was used until it finally broke down in 1975. In 1976, $200,000 from accumulated student fees was used to buy the set of 49 bells. A Dutch bellfoundry, Royal Eijsbouts bell foundry designed, fabricated and installed the carillon bells in 1979. In 2002 a major gift from the estate of Larry Allen Webb of St. Augustine, Florida, (a distant relative of President Dwight D. Eisenhower) made possible the addition of twelve treble bells (for a total of 61), revision of the carillon playing action, and provision of a complete studio practice clavier with sound samples from ten major carillons throughout the world. The Century Tower Carillon of sixty-one bells was completed in its present form and dedicated on September 11, 2003.

In 2008 the Century Tower became a contributing property in the University of Florida Campus Historic District which was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 20, 1989.