Catalina Connection: Avalon’s Chimes Tower to Celebrate 100 Years

Avalon’s beloved Chimes Tower will soon mark a milestone that few landmarks ever reach: its centennial. The Catalina Chimes Tower Foundation has announced a year of celebrations in 2025 to honor the tower’s 100 years of ringing across the town and harbor, a sound woven deeply into Avalon’s cultural identity. Originally commissioned in 1925 by William Wrigley Jr. and his wife Ada, the Chimes Tower was built to house a set of Deagan Westminster chimes that have played their melodic tones every hour, quarter hour, half hour, and three-quarter hour for nearly a century. For Ada Elizabeth Wrigley, the chimes were not simply music but a gift meant to bring joy to Avalon’s residents and visitors, a tradition that has endured for generations. “The Chimes Tower is an enduring symbol of Avalon’s cultural heritage,” said Alison Wrigley Rusack, co-founder and board chair of the Catalina Chimes Tower Foundation. “We are proud to honor the vision of my great-grandparents while preserving the joy and character the chimes have brought to Catalina Island for a century.” In preparation for the centennial, the foundation has spent the past decade carefully restoring both the tower and the historic instrument inside. Current efforts include final mechanical refurbishments, landscaping,...