The committee itself is not a government agency. The bells have never been in tune. Fourteen of them were cast by the Meneely company of Troy, N.Y. , a firm which never learned to tune its bells. They simply cast their bells to an approximate tuning standard. Most other founders had long since cast their bells to more precise standards.
Modern methods make it possible to bring our historic bells up to contemporary standards.
We know that the tuning will greatly improve the sound quality of the bells. However, it is not possible to know if the tone will be improved sufficiently to permit addition of new bells to the instrument. The committee will evaluate the sound after the tuning is completed and then make a decision whether or not to proceed with expanding the bells into a concert carillon. If the tuning is not a success, the committee will proceed with renovat ion of the existing bell structure and reinstall the newly-tuned bells in the belfry. That depends on what the committee chooses from the proposals of the various bell foundries.