A much-needed makeover
Campaign will raise funds to renovate bell tower, carillon

Tape measure, pencil and notebook in hand, Carl Clawson was one of the last people to ascend the steps of the Furman Bell Tower on the old downtown campus.

With destruction of Richard Furman Hall, which included the tower, just months away, the 41-year-old construction engineer clambered up the ivy-covered walls to measure the tower's dimensions. He counted steps, noted construction material and made detailed drawings of moldings and ledges.

On a hill overlooking the Reedy River and the city of Greenville, the century-old Bell Tower had once rung to celebrate victories by the Confederacy. Its joyful tolling also echoed through town after Furman victories over Clemson, then the school's biggest rival.

Constructed in 1854 shortly after the university relocated to Greenville from Winnsboro, the Bell Tower was an enduring symbol of Furman. Its bell had summoned generations of students to class. Now it was being razed to make room for a shopping center.

"There were no blueprints of the original tower, so I kind of felt like I was doing my part to preserve history," said Clawson, a Furman employee for 28 years before retiring in 1983.

As a modern, new campus took shape in the '60s, Furman alumni were filled with a mixture of nostalgia for the old and pride in the new. And a movement sprouted to have the Bell Tower replicated on the new campus.

Now retired and living in Travelers Rest, Clawson said original plans called for the construction of a "miniature" 55-foot replica of the Bell Tower. But in 1964, the family of recently deceased Alester Garden Furman donated funds in their father's name for construction of an exact replica of the 88-foot tower. Still, the question remained: where should it be located?

Campus architects with Perry, Shaw and Hepburn, Kehoe and Dean originally proposed that the tower be constructed between the student center and dining hall on the site of what is now the Janie Earle Furman Rose Garden. But Clawson, then director of physical planning and construction, opposed the idea.

"I just felt that a bell tower should be a structure that you could see from the bottom up," said Clawson.

With the location of the tower still in doubt, Clawson eyed a tiny peninsula on the campus lake. At the time, this strip of land was just six feet wide. Clawson envisioned the tower with a mountain backdrop, its reflection beaming off the lake. Ground lights would illuminate the tower in the evenings, and its chiming bells would resonate over the water's surface. He didn't have a hard time selling the idea.

Soon after the peninsula was expanded in 1964, construction on the six-story tower began on 12 52-foot oak pylons. Knowing that a 60-bell carillon would be placed in the structure's top level a year after construction was completed, engineers designed the tower with a detachable copper roof. The bell from the original tower on the old campus was placed on the fifth level.

An Upstate tourist attraction and a favorite subject of photographers, the Bell Tower has recently fallen into disrepair. Although it continues to chime on the hour and quarter-hour, its exterior is weathered and chipped. Dust and spider webs have settled on the carillon's wooden keyboard, which hasn't been played in years. And the four clock faces frequently display different times.

Early next year, Furman will launch a campaign that combines the restoration of the carillon and the Bell Tower with the completion of the library expansion and renovation. The $1 million designated for the Bell Tower is expected to restore the carillon, repair the clock, renovate the tower and fund a maintenance endowment.

Donors to this project will have their names placed in the brick walk leading to the tower. More details about the campaign will be released next month.

For years, Clawson, now 80 years old, has quietly lobbied the university to renovate the tower. A regular visitor to the lake and tower, Clawson recently bounded up its iron stairwell like a teen-ager and viewed the 60-bell carillon with the awe of a first-time beholder.

"This is such a beautiful structure and I'm glad that something is being done to keep it up," he said as he looked out over the lake from the tower's fifth story. "I really love this space. It's been 28 years of my life."