Known as the Chimes Building, the Tods built this structure in 1896 as a stable and carriage house. In 1901, they added a 50-foot bell tower containing a set of hemispherical bells played by an automatic drum in the tower clock. Produced and sold as a relatively inexpensive alternative to conventional tower bells, their lighter weight suited less structurally substantial towers. The tower clock and its 15 bells are the oldest of this type of musical mechanism found in North America The tenor and treble bells bear the clockmaker’s inscription: “J. Smith & Sons / Clerkenwell, London,” in a lettering style indicating they were cast by John Warner and Sons, who is perhaps most notable as the maker of the original Big Ben..
The Emily Catherine Fedorko Foundation is providing financial and planning support for the restoration of the historic Chimes Tower. Their contribution to the Greenwich Point Conservancy will include funding for the refurbishing of the musical mechanism and bells and the creation of a water safety center in the base of the tower.
The pledge and restoration work on the Chimes Tower is dedicated to the life and memory of Emily Catherine Fedorko, who died in a tragic boating accident just offshore. When refurbished, they will be named “Emily’s Chimes.”
