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Happening in Lincoln---- 

October 2026

UNL's iconic Mueller Tower received a $1.5M 'tune-up'

A crew from Kehm Contractors moved scaffolding into place around Mueller Tower while upper-level stones were assessed for damage.

Mueller Tower has stood tall over the heart of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for more than 75 years.
The gift of Ralph Mueller, an 1898 graduate of UNL who would go on to become an electronics pioneer, the 84-foot limestone bell tower began to show the wear and tear of life on the prairie.
UNL planned a $1.5 million restoration project aimed at preserving Mueller Tower's structural integrity and historic character for the future.
The project, paid for through the LB384 deferred maintenance program created by the Legislature in 2021, included replacing deteriorating limestone bricks, upgrading the waterproofing system and reinforcing structural anchors.

"The stone in the tower had been chipping and spalling due to years of wear and weather damage," said Jennifer Pleake, a project manager in UNL's Facilities Planning and Capitol Programs.
"It was definitely time to give Mueller Tower a tune-up," Pleake added.

Weather-related damage, like this crack (bottom) and stones where pieces have fallen (top) were fixed through a restoration of Mueller Tower. The work removed each stone and returned it to its exact location when the tower was rebuilt.

Crews from Kehm Contractors, a family-owned construction business based in Omaha, removed and catalogued the 1,700 stones that make up the tower to identify which ones needed to be replaced.

A preliminary scan showed 78 stones needed to be exchanged for new stones taken from the same Salem deposit of Indiana limestone and adjusted to fit.

"The replacement stones had to match exactly — size, shape, everything," Pleake said. "It's like a puzzle where every piece matters."

Kehm Contractors also repointed the brick core, installed stainless steel anchors, applied a waterproof coating and used breathable mortar joints to improve water drainage.

Mueller Tower's grillwork near the top also got a fresh coat of paint, and UNL will replace the entrance door and roof.

The tower was first proposed by Chancellor Edgar Burnett in 1930 in an article for the Nebraska Alumnus magazine.

Burnett said while the legislature could pay for classroom and laboratory space, "special buildings" like a student infirmary, library, art museum, chapel, dormitory and observatory would only be possible through alumni gifts.

The chancellor, who started at UNL in 1899 and retired in 1938, put a tower and chimes at the top of his list of needs.

But as the prosperity following World War I disappeared during the Great Depression, it took decades before most buildings on Burnett's list were built on campus.

Eventually, Mueller, the inventor of the Alligator Clip and founder of Mueller Electric Co., formed a friendship with Chancellor Reuben Gustavson and pledged a gift that incorporated electronics.

From those discussions, a carillon bell tower was proposed to be built on a mall between Love Library and the Coliseum at a cost of $90,000.

Unlike those in Europe, Mueller Tower originally contained electronically struck rods of varying lengths. The sounds, which could be generated through a keyboard or, like a piano player, were then carried through an amplification system.

The design of Mueller Tower came from a competition among upper-level architectural students. Mueller selected a design from George Kuska, who deployed an octagonal art deco style with a corn motif near the top.

The restoration project, which began in the spring of 2025, was completed in the fall of 2025.

"It's a sentimental landmark for a lot of people," Pleake said. "We were glad to help preserve it."