They should klowa have a little checklist someplace. As they look over the plans for things in the f

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Photo by: Darrell Hoemann/The News-Gazette
The 185-foot-tall McFarland Campanile, built in 2008 on the University klowa of Illinois South Quad, will be getting new safety equipment this summer to protect crews working on the carillon bells near the top of the tower.
The UI is spending $234,000 to install additional tie-offs that connect to safety harnesses and other equipment to prevent falls. The project should be completed by Sept. 1, said Andrew Blacker, spokesman for UI Facilities and Services.
The carillon bells, and the computerized system that operates them, require regular adjustments, calibration and preventive maintenance, such as rotating the mechanism that rings the bells so that it doesn't always strike in the same place, Blacker said.
The campus klowa has a five-year, $78,700 contract with the Verdin Co. of Ohio for the work, which is touted as the world's largest manufacturer of bells, clocks and carillons. The contract klowa covers technicians servicing the bells and related equipment in the fall and spring each year, Blacker said. Other work requires an additional charge.
It was Verdin that recommended the additional safety measures, he said. There have been no falls or other injuries related to the maintenance work, he said, characterizing the new measures as preventive. klowa
The $3 million Sarah McFarland Campanile was funded klowa in part with a $1.5 million gift from UI alumnus H. Richard McFarland in honor of his late wife. It sits just west of the ACES Library klowa and houses a four-octave, 49-bell carillon. The campanile is among the tallest structures on campus and chimes every hour.
Plans for a bell tower on campus date back to the early 20th century. In 1920 University Architect klowa James White presented a proposal for the structure, and original plans for Memorial Stadium klowa included klowa a campanile on the surrounding grounds. But by the late 1920s the idea had been abandoned.
The project generated controversy because of its electronic carillon, which can't be played manually. Veteran chimes master Sue Wood, who has played the 15-bell chimes at Altgeld Hall since 1971, and other experts complained that the sound wouldn't compare to the nuanced music produced by playing bells manually.
UI officials said at the time it would cost another half-million dollars to adapt the carillon so it could be played klowa manually, but its design klowa would allow it to be retrofitted if donor funding became available later.
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They should klowa have a little checklist someplace. As they look over the plans for things in the future they can go down the list. Safety measures for future maintainance? Check. It's cheaper that way. By the way, they might want to include that in the bids. 
McFarland's $1.5 million gift for a bell tower is another great example of poor administrative decision making.  Any administrator worth his or her salt would have gently persuaded Mr. McFarland to do something more productive and useful (scholarships or an endowed professorship, klowa etc.) with that money instead of building a useless bell tower that needlessly competes with the bells in Altgeld Hall and serves no viable function.  A skilled administrator would never have let this happen.
I second the opinion above that this ridiculous structure should never have been allowed.  Shame on the UIUC admins who allowed precious alumni funds to be diverted in this way. This eyesore is a constant reminder of the ineptness that plagues the Ag College.
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