Campus bells ring again after a year of silence

It has been almost a year since Erasmus staff and students heard the campus bells or accessed the air bridge on the K.P. van der Mandeleplein. After asbestos was released in the initial reconstruction, the area has been completely off limit.

This may change quite soon since plans are now underway to make the air bridge passage and tower fully accessible again. Wednesday was the first time students heard the carillon playing again. At the moment, it’s only the workers who are allowed access to the tower and hallway, and today they were testing the instrument.

Final touches

“We still have to finish some final details. We are currently setting up the ventilation system in the hallway, clearing the rough edges. We still have to set the piano at the tower entrance as well as finish some work with the carillon instrument in the tower”, said one of the construction representatives at the air bridge.

To access the bell tower itself, there is only a temporary ladder set by the workers at the moment. The bells located at the top of the tower are also going through some general maintenance. Two workers are fully engaged with fixing and refurbishing the instrument – changing the wires that connect the keys to the bells, cleaning and setting the pads, and adding some final touches on the wooden framework of the instrument.

According to the Real Estate Services department, the air bridge will be accessible again by the end of May.