A student-initiated plan to relocate the bell on top of Withers Hall to a new home in the Bell Tower has moved one step further to approval.

Matt Robbins, a graduate student in architecture, met with Associate Vice Chancellor for Facilities Kevin MacNaughton Friday to discuss Robbins’s plan to move the Withers bell inside the belfry of the Bell Tower during the war memorial’s upcoming renovation. While MacNaughton didn’t specifically give the plan a green light, Robbins said the University is seriously considering his proposal.

Robbins wants to move the bell, originally housed in Raleigh’s city hall around the turn of the 20th century, during the Bell Tower’s upcoming renovation. After the bell’s installation, Robbins wants electricians to wire the bell to the existing carillon system, replacing the single-toned chime that rings the hour.

Staff at Christoph Paccard, a bell foundry that has worked with the Bell Tower before, contacted Robbins last week. Robbins said they could complete the project — including the transportation of the bell and construction of the supporting framework — for $20,000.

All the University would have to provide, Robbins said, was electricity to the bell’s control mechanism and an opening in the tower to install the bell. He said the cost of the relocation could be absorbed into the existing renovation budget for the tower, which stands at about $1.5 million.

MacNaughton was unavailable for comment Tuesday and Wednesday, but said in a voicemail that Robbins had done “some spectacular research.”

“There are a few more things he’s going to explore so we can make sure we’re doing the right thing,” MacNaughton said. “We still have a little more homework to do before we move forward with any kind of plan.”

Robbins said MacNaughton charged him to obtain the endorsement of both the heads of the campus ROTC progams and local veteran organizations.

“We wouldn’t want to do anything to desecrate their monument,” Robbins said.

Robbins already gained the endorsement of the Student Senate, which passed the Bell Support Act by consent Jan. 30. But before his meeting with MacNaughton, Robbins also obtained the endorsement from the North Carolina freemasons, who originally laid the war memorial’s cornerstone in 1921.

Raleigh Fire Chief John McGrath has also endorsed the plan. Robbins said he wanted to get McGrath’s endorsement before he moved forward, since the Withers bell was relocated to the city’s fire station in 1914, after its original home in city hall was torn down that same year.

“He really enjoyed that the act would unify the city and the University,” Robbins said. “This would be a statement of leadership.”

Student Body President Bobby Mills has also voiced support for the plan.

“It’s a great idea,” Mills said. “If it’s going to be called a bell tower, you have to have a bell in there.”

He said the project could also be a great way for the University community to learn more about the memorial.

Although the original intent of the Bell Tower’s architect was to install a bell in the belfry — in addition to an extensive carillon system — the bell was never installed. Even today, the carillon system is housed in a small room in Holladay Hall and its sound is piped through speakers in the tower.

Mills said that even he didn’t realize that a bell wasn’t present in the tower.

“It will be a great educational experience to people,” he said. “It will add more history to our culture.”

Mills said the only concern he has heard in relation to the Withers bell relocation is how much funding it would take to complete the project.

“The most important factor is the cost,” Mills said. “Students don’t want their tuition and fee money spent on that.”

Although he’s not done yet, Robbins said he was pleased by how receptive MacNaughton was to his proposal, especially since he is a student.

“I am but one voice,” Robbins said. “But [the administration has] the power to do a lot of things without students’ permission.”