For the January issue of D Magazine, I wrote a short piece about the new bell at Old Parkland. Its name is Horatio, and it is the fourth-largest working bell in the country. I must tell you that our own Matt Goodman, when I informed him about this bell, was not pleased. Old Parkland’s owner, Harlan Crow, plans to ring the thing at noon and 6 every day, once the bell tower is finished (right now it’s just a concrete core; the cladding comes later). Matt lives not far from the Old Parkland campus, and I think he is worried about daily ringing disturbing his naps. Or he just hates bells. I’m not sure.
In any case, yesterday there was a small ceremony for the first official ringing of Horatio. Below is a short video I took. I was told that the tone of the bell will change slightly as its 30,000 pounds of Dutch bronze settle into their new home. But it won’t get any louder. I asked the head Beck construction guy on site, and he told me the clapper doesn’t have a volume knob. It can’t hit the bell any harder than it did yesterday. So here you go, Matt:
