KISS, the Bell Tower where it played

I found this article about the bell tower, the one that played KISS, Marilyns favorite song.....kinda cool

The bells of Niagara have historic ring; REDISCOVERING NIAGARA

ALISON LANGLEY

Tuesday, July 18, 2006 - 02:00

Local News - Ask not for whom the bell tolls … it tolls for Niagara.

The Rainbow Tower, the 165-foot (50.3 metre) tall monolith at the Canadian terminal of the Rainbow Bridge, is home to a unique musical instrument that many have heard, but few know about.

The Rainbow Carillon, a keyboard-type instrument, rings out four times a day, 365 days a year.

Made up of 55 bells that tip the scales at a whopping 43 tons, the carillon has been entertaining residents and tourists for the past 58 years.

“When we rebuilt the Rainbow Plaza from 1997 to 2000, everything changed down there with the exception of the tower,” said Tom Garlock, general manager of the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission, which operates the carillon.

When it was built, the tower contained a small apartment for the resident musician, known as a carilloneur.

Sitting at a console called a clavier beneath the bells, the carilloneur would push down on a series of 55 oak batons and 30 foot pedals.

The bell castings began in 1941, but were interrupted by the Second World War. Work resumed in 1945 and was completed two years later.

The largest bell, called a Bourdon, weighs 10 tons and measures eight feet in diameter and is 6.5 feet tall. The smallest bell weighs less than nine pounds and is a mere 5.75 inches around.

The bells were cast and tuned by the John Taylor & Company of Loughborough, England, which is still in existence.

The tower was featured prominently in the 1953 Marilyn Monroe classic, Niagara.

“There were scenes filmed outside at the base of the tower, but the scenes in the stairway were actually filmed on a sound stage,” Garlock said.

In the mid-1990s, the bridge commission replaced the carilloneur with a fully automated system, though the instrument can still be played manually.

“Because we wanted to use it on a more frequent basis, we decided to automate it,” Garlock said.

The tower also underwent extensive renovations, including replacing the clavier at that time and the bells were silenced until construction was completed. No more renovations are planned.

“We have no plans to change anything and it can go long periods of time without any kind of maintenance at all,” Garlock said.

Rediscovering Niagara is a regular series looking at interesting sites around Niagara Falls and Fort Erie.

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