staircase extends up the southeast corner of the tower for access. The short tower on the building's southeast corner was originally meant to be the transition between city hall and the never-built jail, complete with a "bridge of sighs" to transport inmates straight from their cells to courtrooms in city hall. Due to lack of funds at the time (the building's initial budget doubled, ending up at $325,000 () including furnishings), Richardson devoted most of his efforts to the building's exterior. The Times Union wrote later, "There wasn't enough money for Richardson to do the job as thoroughly as he would have liked. He said in his writing that if there wasn't sufficient money, he'd rather do it right on the outside and leave it to a future generation to finish the interior. The interior was finished by city architects a good 30 years after Richardson built it." Those "city architects" were Ogden and Gander who designed the alterations in 1916 that were completed in 1918. The mayor's office is on the first floor of the tower, with a painting of the city's first mayor, Pieter Schuyler; the Council chamber and offices are on the building's second floor, and the city clerk's office is on the second floor of the tower. Under the leadership of William Gorham Rice, an Albany native who had run for mayor and served in some appointed state positions, in 1927 a carillon was added to the tower; it contained 60 bells (though it produced only 47 different notes, since the top 13 notes each had two bells) made by John Taylor & Co in England. Financed by public donations (from over 25,000 people), it cost $63,000 () and was the first municipal carillon in the United States. Six decades later Mayor Thomas Whalen III had it restored, replacing 30 bells, removing the doubles, and adding two notes to its repertoire. The 49 bells weigh in total. The largest is in diameter and weighs . The carillon is still in use and is played during concerts several times a week. The clock faces on the tower were added in the 1920s, possibly around the same time as the carillon. An 1897 image of the city hall shows the tower without the clock faces. City Hall was added to the NRHP on September 4, 1972. See also List of mayors of Albany, New York National Register of