RON HENGGELER

June 20, 2010
The Fulton St. bell tower in San Francisco,

and. . . views from Tiburon and Belvedere

The Fulton Street bell tower in San Francisco's Alamo Square neighborhood is constructed entirely of refuse, scrap, rubble, remains, remnants, and fragments from San Francisco’s past. The main skeletal frame is composed of rebar from the Fell Street Freeway Exit that was torn down after the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake. There is twenty feet of heavy anchor chain from Fort Point below the Golden Gate Bridge, and cable from Meigg’s Wharf where Fisherman’s Wharf now stands. The tower’s foundation contains bricks from four historical locations. . .the Ferry Building. . .the original City Hall (where today’s Main Library stands). . . the 1851 Belli Building on Montgomery Street. . . and the ‘crooked-est’ street, Lombard. There are rough-hewn grey cobble stones from the Barbary Coast in Chinatown, and fire-scarred white marble from the Great Fire in 1906. The flag of San Francisco flutters 50ft. up, high atop the tower. The Phoenix in the center of our city’s flag is the mythological bird that burns in a fire yet rises up reborn out of its own ashes. My tower is like the Phoenix, reborn from materials that were being thrown away and considered worthless. By using them in the tower’s construction, I’ve brought them back to life. The tower, with over 100 bells and chimes and deep-based gongs, is alive with sound. For more on the tower, go to AROUND THE HOUSE in the Photography section of my web site.

 

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