Look up. Look way up.
If you haven’t taken a look at the Midland Public Library’s clock tower in a while, you should.
The clock’s four faces have been renovated and the mechanism has been brought into the 21st century with GPS synchronized time.
“We were very excited about the project. We had to reset the clock all the time,” library CEO Trish Hayes said of the ancient timepiece.
The clock system was more than 100 years old, built as part of the original 1918 structure. Hayes explained that whenever the clock slowed down or the time changed, someone had to climb up a steep ladder from the third floor into the attic and then into the clock room to reset it.
Tower clock horologist John Scott from Scotiabell did the work on the clock system. Last fall, the mechanism was replaced and this spring the four faces were replaced/renovated.
“The clock itself, I called it a four-faced liar,” joked Scott “because it was not indicating the correct time consistently. It’s now GPS synchronized.”
Scott explained that every satellite circling the planet has an atomic clock on board. Those atomic clocks send out a signal. The tower clock system picks up the signal, translates it into data that the clock controller recognizes and keeps the system exactly on time, just like your cell phone.
“It’s very accurate,” he said.
Work was also done on the original mechanical gears to ensure the minute hand turns one revolution every hour and the hour hand turns one revolution every 12 hours.
“We just updated the drive mechanism,” said Scott.
Work on the faces was completed before the end of May. Each face on the clock is made up of 24 white panes, black cast iron hands, which are 1.8 metres (six feet) in diameter, and the circular structure with Roman numerals.
The work was custom due to the nature of material construction done more than 100 years ago.
All the glass panes, many of which were discoloured, cracked or broken, were removed and replaced with polycarbonate panes. Each one needed custom sizing to fit into the structure.
Although the dials were cast originally, no two were the same. The iron was all treated with a two-part epoxy paint, he explained.
“It was quite a bit of work,” said Scott, who worked from within the clock tower and by a lift machine for exterior work.
The clock renovation was part of a larger project to the library’s exterior and interior, whereby crumbling steps were repaired and leaks were fixed.
“We are thrilled that the town invested in the building the way that they did,” said Hayes.
The 320 King St. building was constructed in a Romanesque style popularized by architect Thomas Fuller with a mansard roof, rough surfaced limestone cladding with the corner porch and tower.
The building was originally the federal government building and housed the post office, customs office, steamship inspection office and a licensing facility. It underwent a major renovation and became the library in 1967.
