South Quad Bell Tower

I feel that it is in a weird spot and disrupts the symmetry of the south quad.

I agree. It is a weird spot. I guess I don't know the logistics of the sound of a bell, but I would think a more centralized location would allow more people on campus to hear the bells. Will people on the engineering campus hear the bells from this location? It is obviously too late now.

The bell tower has been in the campus master plan for several decades now. The idea has been to create a second quad called the Military Axis, which would extend from the ACES library all the way to Flagg Hall (or whatever replaces it, probably the new six pack.) The Bell Tower is supposed to be on the intersection of the centerlines of the main quad/south quad, and this new one.

The Military Axis will begin to take shape once the Business Building finished and the site is cleared up, but there is still lots of construction to be done before the new quad is finished.

In response to Anonymous, they're not CREATING the military axis. This axis has existed since the University began, when the "axis" was used as a parade route towards the Armory.
The axis no longer exists, and all the new tower will do is confuse people as to where the true center and HEART of the campus lies.
Usually when buildings of this nature go up (ones that serve no research, educational, or facility use), they are used as beacons and symbols for the University (see: Ball State, for instance). However, Illinois already has that in Altgeld Hall, a building that while strange in plan, is FAR more ornate and wonderful than this tower could ever become.
This is a massive waste of $10 million dollars, and I hope the dollar realizes how much he could have helped the University with that money, rather than waste it on a worthless piece of crappy "architecture".
Personally, I hope the whole thing falls over...

I agree with the directly above. It's an atrocity. I saw the thing in plan over a year ago and myself and all the architecture students felt it was a worthless statue. We'd rather see our money going to something important and beautiful. This thing sucks.

While I agree that the money spent on this new tower could have been utilized more wisely, the money was never "ours" to begin with. Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't this project funded through donors and not some tax placed on students?
And if you want to argue about the placement of the tower I would have to say that in the long run it is setting the South Quad up as the central hub for the entire campus.
To address the comment regarding Altgeld Hall, I think that the University had orignially intended to retro-fit the new bells into the existing structure. However the rennovation costs would have been enormous in order to preserve the towers original integrity.

The fact still remains that no matter how much you hate it or love it, it's going to stay. So maybe for the people that dislike it so much, maybe you should become more proactive in what is going on with your University and help make the changes that you want to see.

I'm glad university funding couldn't have gone to a new building, or Lincoln Hall renovation, or to student scholarships. Ding-a-dang ding-dong, SOMEONE thought wrong. Instead, I hear ANOTHER daily ring from this deplorable bell tower during my Arabic class next door. Not to mention--it looks like the materials are made from Ace Hardware scraps. I mean...REALLY, Illini? This makes me INCENSED.

I think that vapid bell tower is ugly in its design, is a waste of money, and destroys the charm of that end of the campus. Ten million dollars? Just ridiculous!