Welcome!
I live in a strange little Chicago suburb called Naperville. For the uninitiated, Naperville is a strange cross between the towns from the movies Pleasantville and The Stepford Wives where we try as hard as we can to make everything seem perfect from the outside. Festivals upon festivals, armies of late night power washers and sidewalk sweepers... Naperville is a wonderful place. But things aren't always what they seem. Case in point: the debacle currently taking place with the Millenium Carillon of Naperville.
In mid-1997 the powers that be decided that Naperville, like almost every other city in the world, needed to do something grand for the year 2000. Many ideas were pitched, but in the end, the Millennium Carillon won the appeal of the city council. Fundraiser after fundraiser took place, raising millions of dollars from local residents and businesses.
When the first phase of the building was complete, over fifteen thousand people jammed in to the surrounding parks and overflowed into the street to hear the inaugural concert. Accompanying the ringing bells of the carillon were the Naperville Municipal Band and the Naperville Men's Glee Club and Festival Chorus. Aerial photos were taken of the event; the only grass that is even visible in these shots is the roped off area surrounding the carillon construction site.
So what is a carillon anyway?
A carillon is a very rare musical instrument, because of their size and great cost. A large keyboard called a clavier consists of both levers and pedals attached to an intricate system of pulleys and wires which are in turn connected to clappers (the thing inside of a bell that hits the bell to create the sound) to ring each of the bells in the carillon. It is a true feat of engineering. Even more amazing: no electronics are involved in the inner workings of the carillon.
Here is a photo of the electronic MIDI practice clavier in Naperville:
There are handles, and pedals to control the bells:
While the levers are arranged like piano keys, you strike them with your fist, like so:
The Millenium Carillon of Moser Tower has 72 bells, and is the fourth largest in the entire world. By comparison, most carillons have roughly 30 of the smallest bells, and can only play very jingly-sounding, high-pitched tunes on the top end of the keyboard. The Millenium Carillon, however, has a full complement of the lower bells, and can play nearly any piece of music. It is one of four grand carillons on the planet, that is, a carillon that can play more than six octives.
Each of the 72 bells of the carillon was cast by Eijsbouts of the Netherlands. As you go down the keyboard, the bells increase in size until you reach the largest bell, "Big Joe," which weighs in at thousands and thousands of pounds. The only way these bells will lose their tone is from environmental damage -- otherwise they'll last forever. (Air pollution and acid rain can cause pitting, which over a long enough period of time without proper care will cause the bells to degrade.) Some of the oldest carillons have bells which have been played for hundreds of years. If the Millenium Carillon is completed, it will stand for many generations.
OK, so what's the problem?
Naperville residents and businesses have very short attention spans, it would seem, and don't care about the carillon anymore. They went from donating money hand over fist to no donations at all, from standing-room-only concerts to a small devoted troupe of old ladies in the audience. The indifference is embarrassing for our city. Every Tuesday at 7:00, world-class carillon players fly in from all over the world to play our carillon. They regard it as the best and most musically accurate carillon in North America, one which is rivaled worldwide by only a few carillons in the Netherlands.
The Millenium Carillon was originally designed to be enclosed entirely, protecting the structure from wind, rain, and -- even worse -- Chicago winters. The original plan was to complete phase one -- which amounted to little more than a bare bones structure surrounding a fully functional musical instrument -- for the year 2000 celebration.
Shortly thereafter, fundraising began for phase two -- enclosing the carillon, adding an elevator, and finishing the observation deck. As I understand it, phase three is supposed to include work on the grounds around the carillon, the building of a large bandstand so choirs and orchestras can play accompanied by the carillon, and a visitors' center explaining exactly why this is such a remarkable landmark. The current state of funding makes it unclear which elements of this plan are still in the works.
Here is a photo of the deterioration of the Naperville Carillon:
Nearly every piece of steel has significant rust and wear from 5 years of being exposed. This is not galvanized steel meant to be outside -- it is plain old steel that was supposed to be covered up in phase 2 of construction shortly after the musical portion of the carillon construction was complete. Unfortunately, it never got that far due to lack of funding.
The Naperville city council is left with three options:
1. Tear it down, destroying an amazing American landmark and wasting millions of dollars in construction costs.
2. Leave it to rust and soon be closed because of deterioration. (You already have to wear hard hats anywhere near the base, and inside of the structure.)
3. Pull the estimated 3 million dollars needed to complete the carillon project from the available funds in the Naperville cultural fund.
This fund was created last year when the council decided on a 1% increase on the food and beverage tax for all restaurants in downtown Naperville. In its first year, over $2,600,000 was collected from this tax alone. The purpose of this fund is to set aside money for the furthering of cultural events and amenities in Naperville. Instead of going to the carillon, this money is used for countless silly weekend festivals, from Naperville Days to Rib Fest to the city-wide festival for the release of the new Harry Potter book. Not everyone enjoys festivals, not everyone likes ribs, and the Harry Potter books are clouded with controversy. Everyone likes music. A large majority of letters to the editors of various newspapers, and newspaper articles themselves are largely misinformed. The funds to fix the carillon won't come from a referendum, property tax increase, or anything like this. The funds are available.
As amazing as it is to believe, the city council is truly on the fence regarding this issue. There is little interest in the carillon. Why? I believe people see it as little more than a construction zone. There's no visitor center to show people how amazing of an instrument it is. There is no money to advertise the amazing world-class carillon players that fly in from all corners of the world to play concerts. Word of mouth and copied flyers in business windows are the only way to get word out.
Ugh... OK, how much do I have to donate? Wait, this isn't ANOTHER internet donation scam, is it?
No! Not at all. At this point donations aren't enough anymore. Helping save the carillon will cost you nothing more than a few seconds of your time in the form of an email. If you feel like doing a good deed today, please send an email to:
council@naperville.il.us
Tell them how you feel about having the Naperville Carillon torn down or left to the elements to rust away. It doesn't really matter what you email them, as long as it's from the heart. Tell them you want to see the carillon saved.
The closest completed carillon to the Millennium carillon is at the Chicago Botanic Garden. It contains only 48 bells and is dwarfed in size by ours. The same out-of-town musicians who play the Millennium Carillon also play the Botanic Garden carillon during their stay in the Chicago area. Crowds of thousands regularly attend these concerts.
Why is the city even debating not funding the carillon!?
Some people feel that the Millennium Carillon doesn't add anything to the city of Naperville. They say that the Riverwalk is a nice place to walk and jog, Centennial Beach is a nice place to go swimming -- but what does the carillon offer tax payers? The obvious answer: it offers tax payers the ability to listen to an instrument most haven't even heard of, one virtually unrivaled in North America.
To these people who feel the carillon is pointless, and isn't deserving of tax dollars: can you really put a price on a landmark as grand as the Millennium Carillon? What would you say if someone asked you what the point of the St. Louis Gateway Arch is? It's just a curvy piece of aluminum with a bumpy elevator ride to the top, but it's on the back of the US quarter.
Aside from all of these things, what does having something that is one of a kind do for your town? It stimulates tourism, the primary goal of our cultural fund. Find me a business in the downtown area that will complain about having new people visiting the downtown area -- I'll eat my hat.
The fate of the Naperville Carillon is in the hands of the city council during one of their upcoming meetings. Please help! Tell your friends, family, and anyone who is interested in music to email their support. Our city and the country as a whole will lose something truly great without the support of people who want to see the money spent to finish the carillon.
Thank you so much. Please spread the link to this page (and the urgency of the matter at hand) to all your friends, loved ones, and neighbors.
- Eli Hodappeli@alpha13.com
For more information regarding the Millennium Carillon...
Contact Wylie Crawford, City Carillonneur via email at Wylie@Crawford.net, or contact the Millennium Carillon Foundation at 503 Washington St, Naperville, IL 60566. Their phone number is (630) 527-2188. Alternatively, you could call the Millenium Carillon Hotline at (630) 428-4239 or visit the web site for Moser Tower and the Millennium Carillon at http://www.napercarillon.org/.
Or better yet, stop by and take a look for yourself! The Millenium Carillon is located on Aurora Ave directly West of Eagle St on the edge of downtown Naperville, IL.
Is there ANYTHING else I can do?
The Naperville City Council is meeting on September 6th, at 7:00 PM. If you would like to speak in favor of funding the Millennium Carillon, now is the time to act. The council requires notice in advance if you would like the floor to say a few words. If you don't want to talk, that's fine- City council meetings are public events, and being in attendance to show support is also a great way to help. ...But really, the best thing you an do is tell other people about the Millenium Carillon!