The city of Bowling Green has lost its sense of time, at least for now.
On Jan. 30, during sub-zero temperatures, the city’s clock tower stopped working. The cause for the clock stopping is still undetermined but is most likely a break in the metal mechanism that runs the clock.
Wood County Facilities Director Steve Blausey said the clock is most likely broken in the sleeve covering the shaft, or the mechanism that drives the hands of the clock. He added that in sub-zero temperatures, metal tends to crack.
“The shaft is protected by a sleeve, which runs from the top of the clock house to the table way at the top,” Blausey said. “This is where all the hands are connected.”
The court house maintenance workers were not able to immediately work on repairs because of freezing rain.
“We got to maintain the grounds for safety purposes,” Blausey said. “Once that frees up, we’ll be getting up there.”
Maintenance will likely start repairs next week, but Blausey is not sure how long it will take to fix the clock, as they have to determine how bad the break is first. Also, the clock is made of “original equipment,” so if a part is broken, the courthouse maintenance crew will have to remake it themselves, Blausey said.
The clock has stopped a few times since its completion 122 years ago. One of the first recorded times was during the blizzard of 1978 — the clock’s hands were physically frozen in place by the storm, according to the Wood County Auditor’s website.
More recently, the clock tower stopped because one of the motors fell off its stand. This issue caused the clock to chime at the wrong times once it started up again, Wesley Sattler, the courthouse maintenance supervisor, said.
The clock has needed other repairs in the past. In the ‘90s, the clock had to receive sharper, metal hands to keep birds from nesting on them. The weight of birds and their nests caused the clock to run slow.
Despite these repairs, “We really don’t do much to it,” Sattler said. The clock tower usually runs independently, which is surprising for such an old object. Sattler did note the clock tower is the oldest thing maintenance has to work on, as the rest of the courthouse is modernized.
The initial cost to construct the tower in the 1890s was $3,000. The company that made it was the E. Howard Watch and Clock Co., and the clock had been guaranteed to vary no more than 10 seconds a month.
When the clock was first made, its hands spread to a diameter of 17 feet, making them the second-longest clock hands on an American clock tower. It has since lost that title, but it is still a Bowling Green landmark.
Blausey said repairs will start next week.
