The Bell Tower October 2011
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CASE STUDY 3: THE BELL TOWER OCTOBER 2011 Research Report: ‘What We Thought Would Kill Us’ Case Study 3: The Bell Tower 1. Introduction 2 2. The History of the Bell Tower 3 3. The Controversy, Design Response and Cost 6 3.1 The Controversy.................................................................................................. 6 3.2 The Design Response......................................................................................... 7 3.3 The Cost.............................................................................................................. 7 4. Community Opposition and Key Concerns 9 5. Summary and Conclusions 14 Appendix 1 16 Acknowledgements Appendix 2 18 References ©This paper is copyright of the Committee for Perth. While we encourage its use, it should be referenced as: What We Thought Would Kill Us, The Bell Tower, 2011, Committee for Perth, Perth. Committee for Perth 1 “The Bell Tower project dominated public debate” 1. Introduction The Bell Tower is a Perth landmark. It is one of our major tourist attractions and has provided a focal point for Perth’s foreshore. Yet few of us will have forgotten the controversy that surrounded the Bell Tower at the time of its development. Looking back, the level of public scorn heaped on the Bell Tower during its planning and construction seems a bit ridiculous. At the time the project dominated public debate, with community members and government opposition accusing the government of wasting money which they said could be better spent on hospitals, policing or schools. Then Premier Richard Court was accused of building a monument to himself and when construction on the site commenced some people abused workers on the site as they passed in their cars. Yet by the time the structure was completed and opened to the public in December 2000, passing motorists were giving the thumbs up. The controversy had died down and sightseers queued outside to be the first people in the door. Opinions on the Bell Tower are, to some degree, still divided however most of us appear to like the tower and debate has shifted from ‘why?’ to ‘why not bigger?’, ‘more iconic?’, ‘louder?’ This case study has been undertaken by the Committee for Perth to examine the then community’s concerns about the development of the Bell Tower; how this concern impacted on the ultimate design and outcome of the project; why, as a community, we have a tendency to undervalue investment in landmark places and spaces; and the difficulty governments face in investing in assets that do not have an immediate measurable benefit. Committee for Perth 2 “The twelve bells of St Martin-in-the- Fields are recorded as being in existence from before the 14th century” 2. The History of the Bell Tower Commemorating Australia's bicentenary in 1988, the twelve bells of St Martin-in-the-Fields, as well as five specially cast bells were presented to the University of Western Australia, the City of Perth and to the people of Western Australia by the Cities of London and Westminster. The project was an exchange – Perth would be presented with the historic St Martin-in-the-Fields bells and in return Western Australia would provide the tin and copper for new bells at St Martins. The London diocese of the Church of England and the parish of St Martin-in-the-Fields gave authority for the project to proceed. The twelve bells of St Martin-in-the-Fields are recorded as being in existence from before the 14th century and recast in the 16th century by Queen Elizabeth I. The bells were again recast between 1725 and 1770 by three generations of the Rudhall family of bell founders from Gloucester in England, under the order of the Prince of Wales who was later crowned as King George II. These bells were used to ring out historical occasions in Trafalgar Square for over two centuries, including victories over the Spanish Armada, Trafalgar and El Alamein as well as great voyages, including the return to England of Captain James Cook and the coronation of English Monarchs (Australian and New Zealand Association of Bellringers, 1999). They are the one of only a few sets of royal bells in existence and are the only ones known to have left England (Swan Bells, 2011). The five additional bells which made up the gifted set were cast by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in 1988 for the project and included two from the cities of London and Westminster, who each gifted one bell to the project, and a further three bells bestowed by a consortium of British and Australian mining companies (Swan Bells, 2011). The University of Western Australia, which had been seeking a suitable project to celebrate its 75th anniversary, was to find a home for the bells. The original vision for the project was to develop a publically accessible bell tower and teaching facility with links to the university and its music program. The idea received strong early support from within the university, particularly from Sir Frank Callaway who had a leading role in organising the university’s 75th anniversary programme (Pickford, C, 2011). However the university did not have funding for the project and fund raising would be required for it to proceed. An initial UK fundraising campaign was ‘stunningly successful’ largely due to the Committee for Perth 3 personal commitment and contacts of then Agent General for Western Australia in London, Ron Davies and his staff. However subsequent fundraising campaigns within Western Australia attracted little support (Pickford C, 2011). There was some significant early progress towards finding a home for the bells in proximity to the university with plans being substantially progressed for a modern, free standing bell tower on the Matilda Bay car park site. However, ultimately a lack of funding led to waning commitment from the then university administration and the project fell into abeyance (Pickford, 2011). The Government of Western Australia then assumed responsibility for finding a suitable location to house the bells but were initially no more successful and as a result the bells sat in warehouses and the gift started to become a bit of an embarrassment to Perth and Western Australia (Smith G, 2000). When a visiting UK bell ringer saw the bells and rusty framework apparently neglected in a Clough yard in 1992, the issue of neglect of the bells was raised both locally and in the UK. The acting Agent General in London wrote to the Premier’s office to report public concerns about the neglect of the gift noting that, “Questions are now being asked by the Chamberlain’s Office and by the Bishop of London as to what happened to the bells and it could be embarrassing if nothing is being seen to be done” (Pickford C, 2011). Articles appeared in the UK in the Church Times and in the Ringing World in 1992 and in the Sunday Times in Western Australia (Pickford C, 2011). A petition was even started in London to have the bells returned (ABC, 2000). In response, the Western Australian Trustees of the St Martin’s Bells Foundation united to raise funds and obtain support for the project from the State Government and the Opposition (Pickford C, 2011). The State Government, who had not been responsible for bringing the bells to Perth therefore came under increasing pressure to find a suitable home for the bells and Premier Richard Court moved to right the perceived wrong. In response, in the late 1990s a government appointed Steering Committee was established whose members included the Premier and the Lord Mayor of the time, UWA representatives and then President of the Australian and New Zealand Association of Bellringers, Laith Reynolds (Pickford C,2011). A decision was made to build a new tower to house the bells and with the turn of the century approaching, the project became associated with millennium celebrations - the bells were to ring in the year 2000. Associated with this decision, the Western Australian Government commissioned a sixth new bell to mark the second millennium, completing the ring of eighteen bells. The bell was to be inscribed with the name of then Premier Richard Court in keeping with ancient tradition of inscribing bells with the name of the person responsible for commissioning the bell. Responsibility to identify a suitable location for the new tower was handed to the Steering Committee which identified Barrack Square as the most appropriate location for a new tower to house the bells. (It is noted that this decision was made by the Committee without public consultation or input.) In June 1998 the then Department of Contracts and Management Services conducted a limited but paid urban design/architectural competition between four West Australian architectural firms to develop conceptual plans for the redevelopment of Barrack Square. The competition was promoted through the WA Tourism Commission as Western Australia’s millennium project and locating the bells within the Square was part of the brief. The judging panel was commonly reported to consist of two senior architects, one a previous State President and National Councillor of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects and the President of the Institute of Engineers and the other the Head of the Department of Tourism. Hames Sharley developed a masterplan to revitalise Barrack Square and reconnect the city to the river. The centrepiece of the redevelopment was a bell tower to house the historic bells of St Martin- in-the-Fields. The concept for the bell tower was to develop a landmark building which would make an iconic statement for Western Australia, and which reflected the sophistication of design, engineering and construction at the time (Hames B, 2001). Committee for Perth 4 Hames Sharley’s entry set about to be radical and visionary by focussing on a number of fundamental elements which included: Connecting the city and the river and creating a focal point to bond them; Bringing the water to the city; Hanging the bells at their historical height; Creating an identifiable iconic form; Integrating the ferry service; Placing the campanile at the crossing of the identified water and land axes; and Taking the water to the old river foreshore (Hames Sharley, 2000).