Bell Tower

Dedicated in October 1995, this 160 foot brick-clad and steel frame structure is a modern interpretation of the original Heavilon Hall tower before it burned. Purdue’s first bell tower was a fixture of Heavilon Hall. Four days after the building’s dedication in 1894, the building was completely destroyed in a fire. As myth goes, the second bell tower was erected in the new Heavilon Hall to be "one brick higher," but it actually came out to be about nine bricks higher. The tower included a clock and four bells. In 1956, Heavilon was torn down and rebuilt without the bell tower. The clock and the bells were preserved and those bells now hang in the new bell tower. They sound at various intervals during the day to signal class changes, and play music at 12:20 and 5:00 p.m. The old clock sits in the atrium of the Materials and Electrical Engineering Building.