Minerva’s town clock has been restored to operation.
The Minerva Area Historical Society raised more than enough funds to bring the downtown clock mounted on the Haas Museum building at 128 N. Market St back to life.
The historical society was tasked with the effort to raise $9,500 to replace the inside parts of the clock.
“Over the years, it had stopped working. One side would work, one wouldn’t…[the theory was] it was struck by lightning,” said James “Chip” Syme, the president of the Minerva Area Historical Society. “Today, we found the wire…the installation was all burnt off.”
The clock was repaired on June 30.
Syme said he believes the last time the clock chimed was sometime in the 90s. He stated that the clock downtown is an iconic part of Minerva’s history.
“We have to have the clock working. The brick streets and the clock is Minerva,” he said.
Syme said the completion of the project has been a long time in the making.
“It’s going to make me very happy. Just a little thing to help things out…it’s going to make the world a better place,” Syme said.
The total amount was raised by generous donors, with two larger donors who the historical society have asked to keep anonymous.
“We realize this is tough times, and we are in competition with the Roxy [Theater],” Syme said. “We don’t want to deprive them of any movie because their project is much larger.
It’s also a very worthwhile project for the community.”
Lumichron Commerical Clocks of Grand Rapids, Michigan completed the recent repairs on the clock.
The clock is made of copper and mounted to the exterior of the museum building with a steel bracket – it can be seen from High St and Market St.
Lumichron replaced the insides of the clock, making it fully digital.
Once again, the clock is working in Minerva and the chimes and chiming over the historic village.