
Alfred I. du Pont commissioned a church, tower, and cemetery from his son's firm in 1930, but a commitment to poor relief during the Great Depression put these plans on hold. Eventually the project metamorphosed into a 210-foot, thirty-five-bell carillon as a memorial to A. I.'s parents, to serve as his own mausoleum (he died in 1935), and to celebrate his love of music. Base and quoins are gray Vermont granite, the square shaft pink North Carolina granite facing reinforced concrete. A red light atop the polygonal spire served as a familiar beacon for pilots at Philadelphia airport. Massena later designed Edison Tower, Menlo Park, New Jersey, before his premature death in 1945.