A birds-eye view of MU: Memorial Tower

by Jon Stemmle

t first glance the Memorial Tower looks like a castle in the middle of the MU campus. With its historic arch and stately spires, there is no question that the tower is a product of a bygone age.

A spiral staircase ascends from the clock room to the top of the tower.

Sponsored by the MU Alumni Association and built in honor of the 116 university students who died in World War I, Memorial Tower stood alone from 1927 until the early 1950s, when the north wing of Memorial Union and the basement of the south wing were built.

Although the tower is now flanked on both sides by Memorial Union and has more people pass under its arch than ever before, the upper reaches of the tower are more shrouded in mystery than ever.

Climbing into history

In the second-floor hallway that connects the north and south wings of Memorial Union there is a simple wooden door. What looks like an entrance to a maintenance closet is actually the door to the tower.

Behind the door is a stark, stone room that serves as the access to the massive clocks on either side of the tower. Against the room's far wall is another door leading to a spiral staircase, which is the only way to reach the top of the tower. The stairs offer occasional glimpses of the campus, but nothing compared to the moment when you reach the top.

After decades of wear the staircase received an overhaul earlier this decade. Steel bands now wrap around the venerable center pole to secure the staircase.

Memories of old and new

The first thing you notice when opening the wooden door to the top of the tower are several steel braces running at various angles from the spires. The braces, which help hold the spires in place, are result of a violent storm in 1983.

Spires on the north end of the tower were replaced and steel bracings put on each, and around the tower, to prevent storm damage.

When the storm hit, spires on the north side of the tower were blown off. Three fell onto the cement roof of the tower and shattered, and one impaled the roof of the Memorial Union. No one was hurt in the incident, but the damage and threat of another incident led CF personnel to take precautions.

"A lot of the stone work was destroyed and it damaged the tower roof," said Greg Watts, superintendent of Maintenance, who was the construction project manager of the tower project. "Structural Engineering Associates out of Kansas City was enlisted to design an intricate bracing system that would be hidden to anyone looking at the tower from below. We also put a single-ply membrane (or rubber roof) over the cement roof that was there."

While Memorial Union has its own maintenance and custodial operations, CF is responsible for the tower. Watts still deals with the tower, but now as Campus Facilities' superintendent of maintenance.

The tower's interior is an unfinished area with ladders leading to the clocks on either side of the tower. A spiral staircase leads from this room to the top of the tower.

"The tower does not bring in any income or serve a purpose aside from being a campus landmark," said Larry Edwards, director of CF's Facilities Management. "We care for the tower from the ground up, dealing with everything from the clock to the spiral staircase."

Signs of life

Although each year very few people climb to the tower, many leave a memento of their presence there.

Seven decades worth of names, dates and messages are scrawled over the back of the wooden door and the tower wall opposite the door at the top of the tower. With access to the tower extremely limited, the names serve as a kind of historical map, tracing MU students, faculty and staff through the years.

Beacon of the White Campus 

The clock is computer controlled, the staircase reinforced and the spires bolted down. With these improvements and regular care by CF personnel, the tower should stand as the castle of the MU skyline for generations to come.