GREYMOUTH TOWN CLOCK

Grey River Argus, 16 February 1945, Page 2

GREYMOUTH TOWN CLOCK

Hill Site Approved PLANS TO BE DRAWN UP The erection of a clock tower to house the present Greymouth town clock on the hillside above Chapel! and Alexander Streets was approved by the Greymouth Borough Council/ at its meeting last evening. The site was recommended by a special committee consisting of Crs F. F. Boustridge (chairman), P. Blanchfield and W. H. Herring, which was set up some months ago to go into the matter.

“The town clock has a present day value of about £lOOO and is therefore a valuable asset, as well as being a public amenity, and should therefore be re-erected and maintained for the use and pleasure of residents,” the committee report stated. “Engineers, clock and instrument makers have examined or reported upon the clock movement and all assure that it is in perfect condition and has a long life' ahead of it, a century not being considered a long span in the life of a well-made turret clock. The clock is an excellent time-keeper, the variation not exceeding 10 seconds over a period of weeks. The striking mechanism is in need of repair. Storage for any length of time would inevitably lead to deterioration and costly overhaul prior to later reinstallation.

“Careful consideration has been given to several possible sites and these have been reduced to two, namely: (1) on a tower to be erected on the reconstructed Town Hall; (2) on a tower to be erected on the hillside above Chapel and Alexander Streets.

“The Town Hall site is central to the business area and the main street of the town and would give service equivalent to that at present enjoyed. However, the Civic Square scheme is still in embryo and a considerable period must elapse before it comes to fruition and lengthy storage of the clock is unavoidable. The existing Town Hall tower is too low and advantageous mounting requires a tower at least-as high as that being demolished at the Post Office, even this tower being limited in the service which should be provided as it is erected on the lowest levels of the town. Over the years numerous complaints have been received as to the disturbing effect of the chimes and of the striking of the hours during night hours, and siting at the Town Hall would not obviate this.

“The Chapel-Alexander Streets hillside site offers opportunity for immediate re-erection and visibility to the greatest possible area of Greymouth; there, the clock and tower would present a prominent and pleasing land mark, yet be so close to the heart of the town as to render even greater service than it has throughout past years, and also be at such an elevation as to obviate distressing disturbance while, in accordance with established acoustic principles, the mellowed sound would range over a much greater area. COST OF ERECTION “The hillside site, being a solid limestone bluff, offers no difficulties as to foundations, and the erection of a 33 feet tower on the hillside would be less costly than the total involved in mounting the centre of the clock at the same height as it was in the post office, that is a total height of 66 feet from footpath level for a tower similar in design to that for the hillside. Earthquake is a contingencj r less costly to provide for in the tower on the hillside than in a tower twice the height at the Town Hall. Your committee’s choice is unanimously for the hillside site. There, but. three faces would be required and it. is suggested that these be 12 feet in diameter compared with 6 feet hitherto, and that night lighting be by Neon tubes. The clock ' is easily convertible to automatic electrical wind, thus obviating close attention. I

“Exhibited in the Council Chamber is a model of the proposed hillside clock tower, the design being based upon a clock tower erected on an ultra-modern building which is, or was, one of London’s prominent land marks. At the rate of £l5 per cubic yard, the cost of this tower is £B5O, and the installation of the clock complete in’working order will cost a .further £5OO. Road access to the site can be gained by continuation of T/fount Street and a further continuation to the Town Belt North will culminate the long considered aim of Councils to provide a scenic hillside road above the- town.” VIEWS OF COUNCILLORS Moving the adoption of the report, Cr Eoustridge- said that he considered the re-erection of the clock an important step for Greymouth. The restoration of all the amenities in a town was one of the chief concerns of any local body. The town clock had served a very valuable purpose in Greymouth. He would not like to see any amenity go out because of lack of energy on the part of the Council. He referred to the extent to which the clock had been missed since it had been taken down and added that the report could 'only be taken as a guide. Cr Herring seconded the motion, saying that many people had asked him where the clock was going to be put and when it was going to be on view again.

Cr A. L. McKay asked if another dock of some sort could be put on the Post Office. He thought it absolutely necessary to have a clock visible from the bus stop. Cr J. B. Kent said he thought the clock should be in the Town Hall, or it could be in a memorial where the rotunda had previously been. He considered that a town clock should be in the centre of a town.

Replying to a question put by the Mayor (Mr F. A. Kitchingham), the engineer (Mr A. J. Fairmaid) said that Neon lighting could be put in by the Neon people on a rental basis, with a fixed sum for maintenance.

Cr H. Hutchison said he had previously been against the idea of a tower on the hill, but he was now inclined to think that the site would be very satisfactory.

Cr j. E. Stokes said he assumed that the committee had only considered the present clock and not the possibility of an electric one for another site in the town. He understood it had been the intention to conduct a competition to get the best design for a tower.

The Mayor said he had heard many

complaints about the clock not being available now. He had thought that when peace came there would be many advertising clocks in the town which would obviate the necessity for having a town clock. The amount of the estimate for re-erecting the clock was much below what he had anticipated. The cost of the necessary land had not been gone into, and he was not confident about the effect of high winds on the hands of the clock. He had heard that a firm of watchmakers in Wellington had said that the wind would not affect the hands adversely, but if the report were adopted he thought a written report on this matter should be obtained. Closing the discussion, Cr Boustridge said that if it were decided to go on with a scenic road across the hill it would obviate the cost of a tramline up to the site as had been suggested and put into permanent work what would be lost on temporary work. The Council could go into that matter at a later date. The motion to adopt the report was then put to the meeting and carried, Crs Kent and Stokes voting against it. It was also decided, on the motion of Cr Boustridge, that the engineer go into the making of arrangements for acquiring land for the siting of the clock and that he be empowered to' prepare plans and specifications for the building of a clock tower. He was asked, also, to have a 12'ft. dial painted on the hoarding previously displayed on the proposed site to test the visibility. On the motion of the Mayor it was decided to obtain a report on the effect of wind on 6ft. hands.