BY JANET C. WETZEL
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MIDDLETOWN -- Within a few weeks, bells will be ringing out in the downtown area of Butler County's second-largest city.
When Middletown's city building and plaza opened more than 20 years ago, planners envisioned a large carillon bell tower to be the highlight of the plaza.
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OTHER TRISTATE CARILLONS
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The new Middletown bell tower will join another recognizable carillon in the city - the 35-bell tower at the Church of the Ascension. It also was a Verdin project.
Other places where you can hear Verdin bells:
 The 43-bell MainStrasse Carillon in Covington.
The 49-bell Deeds Carillon in Dayton's Carillon Park.
The 36-bell carillon at Glendale's Transfiguration Convent. |
Though a foundation was poured for the tower, the government building and plaza opened July 4, 1976 without the bells. City leaders dropped the venture, citing a shortage of cash.
Enter a Middletown family to provide the funds to build the high-profile bell tower.
And every time those bells ring, "we'll think of Dad," said Douglas Casper.
He and his siblings, Jeffrey and Sanford Casper, and Marilyn Kirby, are donating the carillon in memory of their father, the late Jack Casper. Jack and his brother, Isador, founded the Casper & Casper law firm in Middletown in 1938, which continues today. Jack Casper loved hearing the bells at a local church, and the carillon seemed a fitting tribute, Douglas Casper said.
And since "Middletown has been very important to my family, we wanted to give something back to the city," he said.
The carillon is being custom built by the Verdin Co. of Cincinnati, which builds and maintains about 95 percent of the estimated 200 carillon bells in the country.
It will be about 40 feet tall, with 25 bells, the largest weighing 583 pounds. It will be similar to, but larger than the carillon tower at Sawyer Point in Cincinnati, where the largest bell is 119 pounds, said Jim Verdin, company president.
The Caspers and city officials declined to reveal the amount of the donation. Mr. Verdin said large carillons such as this one cost more than $250,000, depending on the size and number of bells. Each day at 9 a.m., noon and 5 p.m., the carillon chime will strike . That will be followed by the hour strike, then songs - including seasonal and holiday selections - will play. Visiting musicians will also play it from time to time.
"Dad's favorite song was Lara's Theme, from Dr. Zhivago. We want that to be the first song played on the carillon," Mr. Casper said.
The tower, to be finished by the end of August, will be at the north end of the plaza, said Neal Barille, Middletown development director.
