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St. Mary's University
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San Antonio, Texas 78228

Lucha Ramey
Media Relations Director
ph: (210) 436-3327
fx: (210) 436-3711
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St. Mary´s Breaks Ground on 100-foot Bell Tower

Date: 2006-01-27     Author: R. Leibold

St. Mary’s University broke ground Friday, Feb. 3 on a 100-foot Bell Tower that will stand as a beacon of excellence and pride in northwest San Antonio and complement the University’s recent revitalization and beautification efforts.

President Charles L. Cotrell, Ph.D., Trustee Charles T. Barrett Jr., who made the lead gift for the Bell Tower, and other University officials led the groundbreaking ceremony at 11 a.m. in Chaminade Field, between Chaminade Tower and the University Center.

In addition to making the lead gift, Barrett, a 1962 graduate of St. Mary’s and president and CEO of Barrett Holdings Inc., has been instrumental in raising additional funds for the project.

The Bell Tower and adjacent plaza, which is scheduled to be completed early next fall, will provide a beautiful gathering place 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. The Bell Tower will be visible between St. Louis Hall and Chaminade Tower as visitors approach the campus from Camino Santa Maria.

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.

Architectural highlights and features of the Bell Tower include:

• 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 will ring daily.

• The Bell Tower reflects design elements of St. Louis Hall. For example, the base of the 100-foot tower will be cut limestone because of its solidity and mass. The four sides will 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, will match 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. The pitch of the Bell Tower roof is higher to emphasize its height. 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 will have 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.

• A dome ceiling with an opening above the walk-through space of the tower will 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.