The clock tower, an iconic TCNJ landmark perched atop Green Hall, underwent a $17,000 revitalization in May to upgrade internal and external components worn out from years of use. Both the clock itself and the carillon, the instrument that sounds the bells, were refurbished. In the interest of time, we\u2019ve summarized the clock\u2019s glow up here.<\/p>\n
Until this year, TCNJ\u2019s hands of time were powered by a clock manufactured on Jan. 20, 1931 \u2014 nine months before Green Hall officially opened.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Alex Novak, head of TCNJ\u2019s electrical shop, is in charge of the day-to-day maintenance of the clock. Some days, he\u2019s had to adjust the aging timepiece multiple times.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
As part of the renovation, time is now kept via maintenance-free GPS. \u201cThis lifts a big metal weight off my shoulders,\u201d Novak says.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Accessing the tower can be treacherous. Repairmen enter a door that leads to a steep staircase that ends in the dark HVAC-filled cavern above the ceiling. Next, they climb a 20-rung ladder covered in cobwebs to reach a roof hatch to the clock room.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
From as far back as 1931, clock tenders have marked their initials on the wooden beams in the clock tower. Students have too: We\u2019re talking about you, Brian H. \u201911 and Matty Ice \u201922.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
TCNJ\u2019s original carillon was purchased with contributions from student organizations and rang bells at the beginning and end of the students\u2019 day.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Today\u2019s chimes are digital and mimic the sound of London\u2019s Big Ben. The college\u2019s alma mater and classics like \u201cGod Bless America\u201d commonly sound on campus.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Ken Neill of Neill Carillon Service has managed the clock\u2019s melodies for two decades. Known as \u201cKen the Clock Man,\u201d he is uniquely qualified: A musician, Neill was a former member of the metal band Twisted Sister.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
The clock\u2019s original cedar hands remain a TCNJ fixture: They\u2019re displayed in the office of Heather Fehn \u201994, MA \u201996, chief of staff to President Kathryn Foster.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Says Fehn: \u201cWhen you\u2019re in earshot of the alma mater playing, it\u2019s a nice reminder of what we\u2019re doing here.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Picture: Aaron Wilson Watson ’20<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The clock tower, an iconic TCNJ landmark perched atop Green Hall, underwent a $17,000 revitalization in May to upgrade internal and external components worn out from years of use. Both the clock itself and the carillon, the instrument that sounds the bells, were refurbished. In the interest of time, we\u2019ve summarized the clock\u2019s glow up […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":327,"featured_media":12000,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tcnj-x10"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/327"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11986"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11986\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12008,"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11986\/revisions\/12008"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}