New College To Construct Bell Tower, Renovate Plaza

The bell will soon toll for .

The state's honor college will build a bell tower this summer as part of a renovation of the Jane Bancroft Cook Library, which is shared with 

Both the plaza and bell tower should be ready by mid to late October, according to New College Senior Architect Jack Whelan, who is the project manager.

“We’ll be using the same paving, lighting and landscape themes that define the northern portion of the plaza adjacent to the Academic Center completed last year,” Whelan said in a statement. “The bell tower itself is going to be absolutely gorgeous, a real showpiece to be enjoyed by the community and students alike.” 

The bell tower is possible thanks to a donation by Beverly Koski, one of Sarasota's leading philanthropists and community leaders. 

The tower will be named for Beverly and her late husband, Robert, co-founder of Sun Hydraulics. Koski has been active at New College for much of its history, serving for many years as a leader of the New College Library Association, according to New College. The couple made one of the first large donations to the library and the Koski Core Collection Fund helps acquire new books and resources.

The $700,000 project is designed to create a communal gathering place that stretches along Bay Shore Road from the library to the adjacent Academic Center, which was completed in the fall of 2011. The construction manager for the project is the Sarasota firm, Willis Smith Construction.

Graham-Booth Landscape Architecture of St. Petersburg, landscape architects for the  Academic Plaza, has provided design services for the Cook Library plaza restoration, which is being paid for with state infrastructure funding.

The plaza will be milled to make way for new pavers, landscaping materials, lighting, grass, raised planters flanking the entrance and tables with attached seating.

The stainless steel sculpture on the plaza, Double Spiral Arch, created by Linda Howard in 1987, has been returned to the artist for refurbishing, according to New College, and will likely be moved to the hillock behind the Pritzker dorm.

The bell tower designed by Renker-Eich-Parks Architects of St. Petersburg plays off the Four Winds seal, similar in theme to the Four Winds Sculpture located on the Academic Plaza, but with a "leaner, edgier structure," according to the college.  

The bell tower will rise 64 feet in the air, twisting with its precast concrete pilasters.

Holding the pillars together are two rings, and mounted between them are four bells built by the French company Paccard, often referred to as the “Stradivarius of bell makers.” 

Access to the library entrance will be maintained throughout the construction period, according to the college.