Work on the new clock face on the clock tower in historic Westlake Hall on the campus of Bradley University will begin today. Contractors will remove the old faces today and cover the openings with plastic. The new faces will be set on Thursday. That work will start after 9:00 a.m. and will continue through the day.

The new clock is part of the $22 million renovation and expansion of Westlake Hall which was started in the Spring of 2010. The renovation and expansion is expected to be completed in the summer of 2012.

The new clock face will have Roman numerals similar to those on the original clock put in place when Westlake Hall was built in 1897. The clock will be backlit and have a white finish.

The History of Westlake Hall – Henry Ives Cobb, architect for the University of Chicago and several buildings at the Columbian Exposition, was the architect for the building originally named Horology Hall. Horology is the art of making timepieces. Contracts for construction were awarded in April 1897 and construction was completed in October of the same year. The building was the only one in the United States that was erected solely for use as a horological school, a department of what then was Bradley Polytechnic Institute. The building was renamed in 1946 to honor Allen T. Westlake, who served as dean of horology. In 1961, Westlake Hall became the home for the College of Education.