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[CLOCK TICKING]
The building itself was built in 1892 as the campus's first
official building.
In those days, when a building like this was planned and
designed, the clock was as much a part of the plan for
the building as building the foundation.
It was quote, "a seven day clock," but there's a lot of
winding that goes into winding that clock if you let it go
for more than two or three days.
During my career we never let it go more than
four or five days.
That was about as long as you'd want to stand there and
wind the clock.
This antique piece here is how we used to wind the clock.
When the building underwent the renovation in 2006, that
is when they mechanized it to run off a motor.
My relationship now is strictly just occasionally
bringing someone to see this.
And what we have here that you see in there and at this level
here is a Howard Clock operation.
1917 over here.
E. E. Lorden.
People sign up here.
It's been happening since the building was built.
This looks like a good spot.
This is where you came to leave your mark.
I signed it back in and '77, '78, when I became responsible
for the building at night.
But I don't truthfully remember where.
[LAUGHTER]
[CLOCK CHIMING]
What you just heard is the Westminster chime.
It's a 15 minute adjustment.
Every 15 minutes it does a piece, and it does the full
cycle on the hour.
Then it chimes the number of hours on the clock.
[CLOCK CHIMING]
The way the clock was set up originally is the clock would
set up not only the time on the three faces, but it was
also chimed to ring on the hour upstairs.
And a number of years ago, prior to the renovation,
concerns from our neighbors were that the
clock was loud at night.
So we stopped ringing the clock bell at night.
And it's all handled daytime by speakers
from the Alumni Center.
A lot of people think it's all happening up
there, but it's not.
It's a tape they're playing?
It's not like a player piano?
No.
No.
It's a speaker playing a tape?
Yep.
Speakers are upstairs and it plays the
tape from over there.
Of course, then there's a whole different perspective of
what you get to see when you go upstairs.
Oh, golly gee.
This is a little scary.
The top step is a big one.
Yeah.
Best views on campus.
From up here, you've got a beautiful green view today.
It's the greatest place on campus to be in the fall when
the foliage is at its peak.
But it's even pretty up here in the winter.
It's pretty cold.
But when you don't have leaves on the trees then you can
actually see from here to Portsmouth.
It's a whole different perspective from up here.
This bell was cast at the Meneely Foundry in Troy, New
York, in 1893.
It no longer swings.
It's too well-balanced.
If you pull that rope downstairs now, it will stay.
It will ring, but it will ring once.
[CLOCK CHIMING]
The speakers are warming up.
So just so you're aware, the speakers are going to do a two
o'clock Westminster chime.
It'll be loud because we're lucky because it's only going
to ring twice.
It's an interesting place to be when it does all 12.
[CLOCK CHIMING]
Oh, wow.
That can damage your hearing.
You really ought to cover your ears.
If it's not already shot, I'm not going to worry about it.
[LAUGHTER]
[CLOCK TICKING]
Students and staff see T-Hall from an outside perspective.
And you don't really see T-Hall as an inside place
unless you work here or have a meeting here.
By just being in the building, it's a total different place
than a lot of people think it is.
But when you get away from the first, second, and third
floors and you're up here, it's even more strange because
it's like, wow, I didn't know this was here.
[CLOCK CHIMING]
It's a unique experience.
Part of life at UNH.
[CLOCK CHIMING]