Architectural Hightlights

The Barrett Memorial Bell Tower is located on a plaza at the center of campus, transforming the space into a gathering area that further reinforces St. Mary’s emphasis on community.

• The site is at the intersection of pedestrian traffic from the Quadrangle to the north, the Gateway to Historic St. Mary’s entrance to the east, the University Center to the west and residence halls to the south. It is visible between St. Louis Hall and Chaminade Tower as visitors approach the campus from Camino Santa Maria. Its location anticipates the construction of a University church on Chaminade Field.
• The Bell Tower design is referential and interpretive, and relies on the 12th century French Romanesque architectural style of St. Louis Hall—the signature building that symbolizes the heritage and tradition of the University—for its inspiration.
• The tower is decorative and ornamental, and serves as a focal point for the campus and a space for community activity. At the top of the tower are working bells that chime daily.
• The Bell Tower reflects design elements of St. Louis Hall. For example, the base of the 100-foot tower is cut limestone because of its solidity and mass. The four sides have high arched portals trimmed in cast stone to recall the main entrance to St. Louis Hall. The decorative wrought iron panels at the center of each arched portal are an interpretation of the iron-work on St. Louis Hall’s front doors.
• The tower’s exterior brick, extending from its base to the opening of the bells near the top, matches the brick on St. Mary’s oldest buildings, St. Louis and Reinbolt halls and Chaminade Tower. The brick found on these historic structures—and now in the Gateway project and proposed Bell Tower—celebrates the University’s roots. The surface that defines the interior of the tower reveals red brick like that used in the construction of St. Mary’s newer facilities, thus integrating the University’s compelling history with the energy of the modern campus.
• The design of the top of the tower refers to the roof line of St. Louis Hall. The decorative, stone-framed windows on the gable above St. Louis Hall’s main entrance are interpreted in pre-cast concrete and look like stone, and the tower windows have dark blue glass that is brightly lit at night.
• A metal roof with dormers—a scaled-down version of those on St. Louis Hall—complete the tower. Decorative, brightly painted cast iron spheres at each corner of the roof recall the stone trim at the central gable on St. Louis Hall.
• The middle portion of the tower has decorative metal panels at the corners, separated by thin strips of glass to lighten the image of the structure and provide an ornamental characteristic unique to the tower.
• Above the walk-through space of the tower is a dome ceiling with an opening to allow light from windows and glass panels to illuminate the arched walkway. At the center of this space beneath the dome is a pedestal on which the story of the Bell Tower can be read by visitors.