Library’s clock face complete again

Roger Varley, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Take a look at the clock tower the next time you are passing the Uxbridge Public Library and you will see something has changed: the clock has hands again.

The clock has been without hands since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ben Orszulak, a member of Public and Tower Clock Chapter 134, National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors (NAWCC) from Grimsby, Ont., precariously leans through one of the four access doors found on the faces of the library clocks to affix the hands, which have been missing off the clock faces since the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo submitted by Corrinne Morrison

Corrinne Morrison, library manager, and Andrea Stewart, library assistant, said it took so long to replace the hands because it required an extensive search stretching over two years to find someone qualified to do the job.

"It's a dying art," said Morrison.

They eventually found an expert in Grimsby, Ont., and the hands were replaced last Thursday.

The actual work went unnoticed by most people because there was no scaffolding used or any type of hoist equipment. Morrison explained that each of the four clock faces has a small opening, just large enough for someone to squeeze their head and shoulders through. Using those openings, the hands were replaced. At the same time, all the mechanisms were taken apart and cleaned. Morrison said there is still some tinkering to be done.

Morrison said the library budgeted $25,000 for the work in its capital budget but was optimistic the work will come in under budget.

The hands are made of balsam. The original hands of the clock, built in 1887, were replaced about 100 years after the tower was built with wooden hands made by Earl Pascoe of Whitby. Morrison showed one of those hands with Pascoe's name marked on the back, saying it would be displayed somewhere in the library.

The clock itself was built by the Seth Thomas company of Connecticut. The workings of the clock stretch all the way from the basement to the top of the tower. The main mechanism is in the geneology room and the clock is wound with a wooden crank once a week.

Morrison said a small ceremony will be held in the near future to mark the restoration.