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Reynolds Bell Tower

[IMAGE: The Bell Tower]

The Donald W. Reynolds Plaza, Tower, and Campus Green were commissioned May 21, 1993, and dedicated September 22, 1995. Standing 108 feet 10 inches tall, the Reynolds Tower dominates the UA Fort Smith campus. At seven stories, it is the largest free-standing belfry in the South Central United States and houses the largest installation of cast bronze bells on a college campus between Texas A & M and the University of Nebraska.

The tower and its two attendant fountains stand on an elevated plaza. Concrete spheres three feet in diameter are located outside the corners of the lower base. Constructed of red brick and precast concrete to complement the overall style of the UA Fort Smith campus, the Reynolds Tower opens on three sides through 13-foot-high archways. The north wall, enclosed at the base, contains the control room for the carillon and its keyboard. A bronze replica of the University seal is placed in the floor of the tower, and bronze donor plaques and a bust of Donald W. Reynolds line the interior walls.

Above the arches on each side of the tower stand back-lit windows of laminated sandblasted glass bound to bronze cross pieces. Above the glass walls, the bells are visible within the bell chamber.

Above the bells, 7-foot-in-diameter clocks face the four quadrants of the campus and are easily read from all campus vantage points. A 16-foot-high copper dome and cupola crown the tower. External floodlights illuminate the entire structure.

Navigation:

• The Carillon
• Carillonneurs
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