LET THE BELLS RING
Glockenspiel may get $140K upgrade
ARTHUR WHITE-CRUMMEY
When Regina’s glockenspiel rises again, its bells will be ready to chime with religious and patriotic tunes — and up to 1,000 musical selections.
That’s what the City of Regina is seeking through a request for proposals issued this week. For $139,000, contractors would be tasked with installing a carillon control system and a three-sided clock, and with moving the glockenspiel’s 23 bells from storage.
They’ll have just months to do it, with the city setting a deadline of May 1, 2019 for the work.
The glockenspiel stood at Victoria Park from 1986 to 2010, when it was removed during the construction of City Square Plaza. It was then left in an outdoor lot, where parts of its ironwork were broken off. Its concrete pedestal was discarded.
Just over a year ago, councillors voted to restore the glockenspiel, which was donated to honour Regina’s history of German immigration.
The request for proposals only covers part of the work. A separate tender will follow for the repair of the glockenspiel’s structural base and mast.
Carillon control systems are computers that sound bells to produce chords and melodies. Most come with manual controls for custom play, but many also incorporate programmed tunes.
The glockenspiel’s previous control system used an extremely outdated Commodore 64, one of the oldest machines in the history of personal computing. The new one will use “state-of-the-art electronic technology,” according to the request for proposals.
It must come with “superlative” scheduling and “the widest range of bell-ringing features.”
That means wedding or celebration peals, Westminster chimes, liturgical bells and swinging bell ringing for festive occasions. The glockenspiel will also have a timer capable of striking at the hour, half-hour or quarter hour.
The city also wants a keyboard for custom play.
The request for proposals devotes some attention to the design of the clock that will grace the top of the glockenspiel. The hands must be made of composite material and be pre-painted with black finish “designed to provide years of maintenance-free beauty.”
The money for the glockenspiel was already committed through the 2018 budget, which set aside a total of $400,000 for the work. Only Coun. Jason Mancinelli spoke out against it at the time, saying he couldn’t support such a large cost outlay for a glockenspiel in difficult financial times.
Todd Mackay, Prairie director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, said he shares that concern.
“It is really hard for me to believe that that is the highest priority right now,” he said. “I like clocks and I like bells, but right now a lot of folks are struggling in a tough economy.
“Is this the right time for this? It sure doesn’t sound like it.”
He said fundraisers would be more appropriate than city tax dollars for funding the restoration.
But some in Regina’s German community have pushed for the city to restore the glockenspiel, especially given the city’s role in leaving it to deteriorate.
Alvin Knoll, who was on the executive for the Regina German Club at the time, made a presentation to Regina city council last year calling the glockenspiel a way to honour Regina’s heritage.
He noted that Regina would become only the second city in Canada to have a state-of-the-art glockenspiel.