Moser Tower (often referred to as the Naperville Bell Tower) is a structure built in

Naperville, Illinois Naperville ( ) is a city in DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage and Will County, Illinois, Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is a southwestern suburb of Chicago located west of the city on the DuPage River. As of the 2020 United State ...

, United States. It was built in 1999 to commemorate the

third millennium In contemporary history, the third millennium is the current millennium in the ''Anno Domini'' or Common Era, under the Gregorian calendar. It began on 1 January 2001 ( MMI) and will end on 31 December 3000 ( MMM), spanning the 21st to 30th ...

and 21st century. It is tall and contains the Millennium Carillon, a

carillon A carillon ( , ) is a pitched percussion instrument that is played with a musical keyboard, keyboard and consists of at least 23 bells. The bells are Bellfounding, cast in Bell metal, bronze, hung in fixed suspension, and Musical tuning, tu ...

of 72

bell A bell /ˈbɛl/ () is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be m ...

s. The carillon structure is said to be one of the four largest in the United States.

History

A former

fundraiser Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...

called the Millennium Carillon began fundraising and later started construction in 1997. The entire project cost about $7.1 million, which was triple the amount that was collected and proposed. Construction was finished in 1999. However to open in year 2000, they decided not to surround the bottom in glass and not to install an elevator. In 2007, the city of Naperville took over maintenance of the structure and also added unfinished parts, including installing an elevator. The fundraiser became defunct, however the debts and costs to complete the structure were estimated at $5 million. In June 2017, possible structural issues were found. It was found that the structure may become unsafe in the future. Repairs to the structure began in spring of 2021, they are expected to be completed by fall of 2021.

Structural issues

Structural issues were found in June 2017. Cracks in the concrete were found, and the steel support began corroding. It was at first proposed to last at least 100 years, however it was not expected that the concrete could not hold up well and that the steel support would corrode. After conducting tests and inspection at the cost of $50,000, an estimated $3 million is required to repair the structure, or $660 thousand to demolish it. In April 2018, it remained unknown whether the structure will be demolished or repaired. Costs for repair are high; however many argue that costs to build the structure were higher, and the structure is considered iconic for the city of Naperville. In February 2020, it was decided through a unanimous decision to repair and continue maintaining the tower for $1.5 million. Starting in the spring of 2021, StruxC-MC, LLC began work to fix corroded structural steel, cracked concrete and other issues discovered with the 160-foot-tall Moser Tower. The bid was awarded with a price tag of about $2.1 million. Included in the price tag is also repairs to the nearby river walk. As of 2024, this work is not yet complete.

Gallery

File:Naperville Carillon.jpg, Moser Tower and Millennium Carillon under repair work in July 2021 File:Naperville Carillon at Night.jpg, Moser Tower and Millennium Carillon at night. File:Napervillecarillon.jpg, Moser Tower and Millennium Carillon at dusk. File:Millenium Carillon - Flickr - mus.jpg, Moser Tower and Millennium Carillon from the paddleboat quarry.

References

{{reflist 2000 establishments in Illinois Bell towers in the United States Buildings and structures celebrating the third millennium Buildings and structures in Naperville, Illinois Carillons Towers completed in 2000