Amherst Town center 10:11 AM (depending on who you believe)
So hopefully the town clock will be running soon (probably not today) as it could simply be that somebody forgot to wind it, which is a chore required twice a week.
An electronic motor that would pretty much guarantee round-the-clock accuracy would cost $21,000.
Because the Community Preservation Act committee is more than flush with money now that the town voters decided to allow a doubling of the CPA tax you would think somebody would put in for it under "historic preservation."
Director of Facilities Ron Bohonowicz tells me that the historic old bells actually work but have been silent these past 15 or so years due to neighbors complaints (12 noon or 12 midnight could be a tad noisy).
There's also a special fire bell up in ye old historic tower operated by a big barrel of rocks that would send out a different faster type of ringing to alert fire fighters.
Even Miss Emily took note of the "ticking of the bells" calling firefighters to the Great Fire that devastated the downtown the night of July 4th, 1879. Although Town Hall was not yet constructed, so the bells probably came from the original fire station in town center.
A decade later, on March 11, 1888 smack in the middle of a major blizzard another conflagration took out the Palmer Block in town center, where Amherst Town Meeting convened. The town acquired the land and constructed Town Hall the following year.
Since town officials refuse to allow the 29 commemorative flags to fly in town center this coming 9/11, maybe they will allow the bells of Town Hall to ring once more ... in memory of the unforgettable.
11 comments:
I believe the town, because they are never wrong, or so they seem to think.
They are forming a team now to do a study to see if the time is indeed incorrect on the clock. So far, some of the results of the study also include:
*Why the clock face is only black and white
*Is it correct to have one hand larger than the other and does this represent bullying
*Are all numbers represented properly or is one group being deliberately left out
*Should solar cells be installed so that the clock does not contribute to "global warming" (where those solar cells might go will be researched by a second study and will take 3 years)
*Does Amherst's sister city, Kanegasaki have a clock like this. If not can we use Amherst's funds to get one built.
*Can we hire four administrators for the clock, starting salary $99,000,000 each.
*The clock is in the shape of a phallic symbol which is misogynistic. How can we change the tower design to include a vagina and a null organ representing those who have yet to decide
Results of the continuing study will be available in 2017. The cost of the study will be $436,235.43.
Not only is the time wrong, but the clock thinks the year is 1955 and everything is still "the way it used to be..."
It might be a fun project and a good community service for the local youth club to wind it.
It's not just a case of winding it. It's trying to find someone who can repair it.
Larry,
Do you remember the 4:30 whistle on campus, that alway meant to get our chores done and the table set!
That's one serious icicle.
Anon 6:45
No I can't don't remember that. I do remember the civil defense horn on Central Fire Station.
The coolest part is how spending so much public money will help the poor get to their jobs on time so they can get housing and food (and watches/phones so they can know the time off the common).
Bob Black, N. Amherst.
CPA funds cannot be used for any of those other things you sarcastically suggest.
Bell chiming the hour -- too loud.
Train horn blasting away at every crossing -- not too loud.
All the sane communities long ago installed crossing gates so that the trains don't have to blow their horns...
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