Date: Fri 24-Sep-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: JAN

Quick Words:

Edmond-Town-Hall-clocks

Full Text:

Edmond Town Hall Clocks Again Count The Hours

(with photo)

BY JAN HOWARD

A little piece of Newtown history was restored at noon on July 4 when the

clock in the tower of Edmond Town Hall struck the hour for the first time in

over a decade.

The clock tower was part of a restoration program of Edmond Town Hall's clock

system that was undertaken this year by members of the Connecticut Chapter 148

of the National Watch and Clock Collectors Association, which meets every

other month in the town hall gymnasium.

The striking of the clock was a dream fulfilled for the members of a committee

formed by the group.

On September 14, three members of the association, Jim Gardner, Jerry Valenta,

and Chris Locke, presented their final report on the project to the Edmond

Town Hall Board of Managers.

The committee members have been working on the restoration evenings and

weekends since mid-February. In all, about 500 man-hours were spent working on

the clock system.

"The system is working, the clock is chiming," Mr Gardner told the committee.

Mr Valenta said the clock system is maintaining excellent time. "Ninety-nine

percent of the system is up and running," he said. "The system is as it was

installed in 1929."

"We appreciate the opportunity to do the work on it," Mr Gardner said.

He said the final report will serve as a historical, service and repair

reference guide for the future.

Board of Managers member Marie Sturdevant called the men's effort "a

tremendous service to the town.

"It's wonderful," she said.

The report includes information on clock batteries, the master and secondary

clocks, and the original wiring diagram for the system. Mr Locke is working on

a new diagram so changes to the system will be recognized.

Other members of the chapter involved in the restoration were Dana Blackwell,

James Katzin, James Storrow, and Peter Zazada.

David Lee of Delanson, N.Y. and Jeff Wood of Wilbraham, Mass. volunteered

spare secondary clock movements, information, and advice on the clock system.

The restoration project was inspired by Mr Blackwell and Mr Katzin who, as

president of the local chapter of the Clock Collectors Association, felt there

was something wrong with meeting in a building where the clock on the roof

wasn't working.

One of Mr Katzin's first acts as president was to approach Town Hall manager

Tom Mahoney about the chapter's interest in restoring the clock system to

working order.

The men first met as a group in January, and held preliminary meetings with

the Edmond Town Hall Board of Managers and Mr Mahoney.

In April, the Board of Managers gave its approval for the restoration of the

non-functioning clock system. It also approved $1,000 to purchase new

batteries and for other expenses.

About $1,200 was spent on the project, Mr Valenta said. It would have cost

about $10,000 in labor alone if the town had hired someone to repair the clock

system. With parts, that cost could have risen to $18,000, he said.

Town Clerk Cindy Simon said recently, "This is the first time the clock has

run in the 17 years that I have been working in the Town Hall."

Mr Locke said the system "should go for the next 50 years."

The clock system was manufactured by the Standard Electric Time Company of

Springfield, Mass. The self-winding master clock is located in the town

clerk's office and operates seven secondary, or slave, clocks in other areas

of the building, including the tower. Once every second the master clock sends

an electrical impulse to the secondary clocks, advancing all of them at the

same time, eliminating the individual winding and setting of each clock. The

system runs off AC power through the batteries with storage batteries

providing DC and backup power in case the AC power is interrupted.

Mr Valenta said, "We had some fun challenges to make this fit."