There is no Quasimodo lurking about El Pomar Center ringing the campus chimes hourly.
Instead, the source for the hourly campus sentinel – with melodies strategically played at peak class change times – is a four foot tall digital marvel tucked away in the machine room of the Information Technology Department on El Pomar’s first floor.
There, amid discarded computer server parts, is a Schulmerich electronic carillon. The carillon is connected to a 400 watt sound system and is capable of playing a variety of bell tones and songs specially written for the traditional 23 cast bronze bell instrument.
The carillon was a gift from F. Lamar Kelsey, an architect who designed Cragmor Hall as an extension of the Cragmor Sanitarium, the building now known as Main Hall. For many years, Kelsey chaired the CU Design Review Board and helped guide the look of UCCS. When a clock tower was added to El Pomar Center’s design in the late 1990s, Kelsey suggested it should have a campanile and donated the funds to make it possible, according to university archives.
But even an electronic digital carillon needs a caretaker. At UCCS, those duties fall to Jerry Wilson, executive director, Information Technology.
“The carillon plugged in so, obviously, it’s technology,” Wilson joked about the duties he was assigned when El Pomar Center opened in 2000. “It’s a different kind of assignment for me. It’s been fun.”
A committee led by then-Kraemer Family Library Dean Leslie Manning decided the carillon should ring the Westminster Chimes on the half hour and toll the hour as well. During peak foot traffic times on campus – 12:07 p.m. and 4:26 p.m. – the carillon plays the CU Alma Mater and “God Bless America.”
There has been fine tuning over the years and plenty of questions, both about the songs selected and the time shown on El Pomar Center’s clock.
“The clock is calibrated to Greenwich Mean Time so it’s accurate,” Wilson said. “But the hands on a clock as big as this have a little play in them. What’s really 12:27 might show up as 12:30.”
Because the carillon was made prior to 2005 changes in national Daylight Savings Time standards, Wilson or another IT staff member must manually change the clock each spring and fall. On occasion, that has meant a trip into El Pomar’s tower for a manual adjustment or a scramble after a Monday morning reminder from an astute campus community member.
Wilson has also been questioned about the tunes the carillon plays.
“I had someone ask me why we were playing ‘What a Friend We Have in Jesus,’’’ Wilson said. “I was pretty confused until I found the hymn on the internet and played it. Sure enough, there’s a resemblance with the CU Alma Mater. I can assure everyone, though, that we’re playing the CU Alma Mater.”
The committee that guided the original programming was specific in its music requirements. No holiday music and no religious songs. Wilson has followed that dictum. On occasion, he has selected patriotic tunes from the carillon’s collection and supplemented special occasions such as 9/11 ceremonies by manually tolling the bells once for each victim.
He’s also been asked by Cragmor neighbors to tone down the carillon’s volume and by speakers on El Pomar Plaza for silence.
Most of the time, he’s able to comply with those requests. Occasionally, Wilson has been the bearer of bad news. Some have hoped to try their hand at the carillon and were disappointed to learn there’s no organ-style keyboard, only a few buttons to change bell tones and volume. The programming is also proprietary. Original music must be sent to the carillon manufacturer who then creates a disc playable on the device.
“The last time I asked, it was a minimum charge of $350 for an original song,” Wilson said. “For that reason and lots more, I think we’ll stick to the favorites.”
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