Sarah McFarland Campanile and Carillons on Campus

The Sarah McFarland Campanile is a gift of H. Richard McFarland in honor of his wife. The $1.5M structure will be built west of the ACES Library and will house a four-octave, 49-bell carillon. McFarland graduated from the UI in 1952 and is president of McFarland Foods Corporation. He and his wife were also the donors of the McFarland Student and Alumni Center in the ACES Library. [1]

The construction of the campanile will realize a long-term dream of campus planners, first noted in the Campus Plan of 1913, which suggested a "freestanding campanile" be constructed in south campus. In 1920 University Architect James White presented a proposal for the structure, [2] and original plans for Memorial Stadium included a campanile on the surrounding grounds, [3] but by the late 1920's, under Charles Platt's tenure, plans for the tower had been abandoned. [4]

The dreams of a campanile were resurrected November 24, 1962, with the dedication of the Schulmerich Carillon Americana in the northeast tower of Memorial Stadium. A gift from Mr and Mrs Rollin Staley, it was played from a console in the Auditorium, and was one of the five largest in the country. [5]