THIS IS an architect’s drawing of one Glockenspiel design. The final design, officials emphasize, has not yet been selected. While the Glockenspiel is depicted at the State Bank and Trust Co., corner, the location of the musical tower has not yet been determined.

Architectural drawings being made for New Ulm Business Districts (NUBD) are the first step in development of a Glockenspiel for New Ulm.

The first sketch, made by Schul Merich Carillons Co., headquartered in Amsterdam, Holland, was unveiled earlier this year at the annual meeting of NUBD.

RICHARD HEYMANN of NUBD, who is helping coordinate the Glockenspiel project, said that some other sketches still are being drawn.

“I think a Glockenspiel would be a terrific tourist attraction for New Ulm,” Heymann said. “Along with our architecture and Hermann’s monument, I think this would fit in quite well.”

A Glockenspiel is a music tower of German origin.

The Glockenspiel under consideration would be a minimum of 40feet high, would contain at least 37 bells and 8 carved life-sized figures.The actual design, which might be debated as the sketches arrive, has not yet been finalized.

HEYMANN SAID he hopes the project can be developed quickly enough so some of the components could be ordered yet this year.There’s a waiting period of at least six months, he said, on many of the materials.

A major challenge will be financing of the Glockenspiel, which has an estimated cost of $150,000-$175,000.

“We won’t be able to complete anything, even the drawings, until about $100,000 is raised,” Heymann said.

A total of $15,000 had been pledged for the Glockenspiel. It was to be donated after the drawings were being revealed. So far, however, the only money earmarked for a Glockenspiel is the $301.90 in the NUBD treasury.

SITE OF the Glockenspiel is yet to be determined.

During the fall of 1974, the New Ulm City Council had approved a request to build a Glockenspiel in German Park.

The Historic Trail Committee of NUBD wants the Glockenspiel, once built, to be at a location where it will be a part of a historic trail being developed for New Ulm. A new map pinpointing about 15 historic sites in and around New Ulm is now under consideration.

HEYMANN SUGGESTED that “the Glockenspiel location might be hinged on a mall.”

New Ulm Daily Journal

Feb. 22, 1976