Rainy weather and the return of turkey vultures prompted Greene County engineer Wade Weiss to discuss maintenance and improvements to the Mahanay Memorial Carillon Tower with the county supervisors the past two weeks.
Water leaking into the observation deck has been a problem in recent years. A report in July 2013 from I.T. Verdin, the company that originally forged the bells, suggested the leaks are where the steel structure that supports the 14 bells now hanging has deteriorated in the tower’s 49 years, and that was the source of the leak. Verdin proposed replacing the steel structure with one that would eventually accommodate all 48 bells of a complete carillon.
The supervisors discussed replacing the steel structure again in February 2014, but have yet to move forward.
Weiss told the supervisors on Monday he plans to check the neoprene gaskets around the glass panels at the top of the tower. He said the service life of neoprene is typically 15 to 20 years, and the gaskets on the tower are original to the structure.
Also, turkey vultures have been roosting at the top of the tower again. Last summer, after discussing various ways to discourage the birds from roosting there, the solution was to chime the bells. They had been taken out of service because some weren’t functioning, but it was learned that the vibration of the bells through the steel support structure kept the vultures away.
The bells have not chimed recently because strikers in several bell aren’t working. Weiss told the supervisors that even without the Westminster chime, he would start sounding something on the hour. “I don’t care if it’s a ‘ding’ bell or a ‘dong’ bell,” he said.
Verdin’s 2013 proposal included the steel structure and work on the current bells. Weiss said he would look at that proposal again and get updated costs for work only on the bell strikers and the controller. Those items would be considered maintenance, not improvements. The county has a budget line item for maintenance on the Bell Tower.
The Mahanay Memorial Carillon Tower will mark its 50th anniversary in 2016.
