The Van Wert County Courthouse

Thursday, Mar. 28, 2024

Plans revealed for downtown VW clock

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

The iconic Van Wert National Bank Clock on E. Main St. in downtown Van Wert is coming down, but don’t worry – it’s only temporary.

During Monday night’s meeting of Van Wert City Council, plans were shared to revive the clock with modern technology, while keeping it historically accurate. Council members heard the first of three readings that would allow the city to donate the clock to the Van Wert County Foundation. Once approved, the Foundation plans to work with Main Street Van Wert to begin repairing and restoring the clock at the corner of E. Main St. and Washington St.

The 100-year-old clock on E. Main St. is getting a massive overhaul. Scott Truxell/Van Wert independent

Van Wert County Foundation CEO Seth Baker about one third of the cost of renovations and upkeep, approximately $34,000, has been raised so far and Main Street Van Wert Executive Director Joe Dray said fundraising efforts continue.

“Renovations look like they’re going come in at around $61,000 but we also want to raise additional funds and get that to $100,000 so we have sustainability so future generations can walk by and enjoy that clock 100 years from now,” Dray explained. “That’s something that wasn’t done in the past or we’d still have a really good looking clock.”

Dray noted that once work is complete, the clock will look different in some ways, but the same in other ways.

“On the outside the things you’re going to notice are the paint – the paint’s going to be different, we’re talking more like a black color with gold trim,” he said. “The base is going to be put on a pedestal to raise it up so when the salt (trucks) come through it’s up high enough…that actually ate away at the current base so bad and I don’t know how it’s still standing.”

“The stained glass is going to stay in it and it’s all going to be restored, LEDs are going to go in it so we’re actually going to be able to change the colors of the inside of the clock if we want,” Dray continued. “So for holidays like Christmas we can make it red and green or St. Patrick’s Day we can turn it all green.”

The clock will still say Van Wert National Bank and Dray believes that will keep with the theme of restoring and renovating the downtown area.

Perhaps the biggest change will be how the clock operates. In its heyday, it ran on a mechanism that was largely underground. Those parts are still there but the clock will run via the internet and will be more accurate than ever.

“It’ll run off a server and there will be some wireless connections that will allow it to stay in-step with atomic time and should never need to be reset,” Dray stated.

Main Street Van Wert’s annual dinner will be held next week and Dray said funds raised from that will go toward clock restoration. After that, the clock will likely come down fairly soon.

“We would like to see it taken out by the end of the month and get this project underway,” Dray said. “After that, they said it’s anywhere between 6-12 months for restoration. They don’t want to give us an exact timeline because they don’t know until they get it at their shop, tear it apart, start taking pieces down what all kind of work is going to go into it.”

“This is something you don’t want to rush, you want to take your time and make sure it’s done right,” he added. “We’re looking at once it’s taken out probably 8-12 months. It will be back, I promise.”

Smith’s Bell and Clock in Camby, Indiana is being tasked with making the necessary repairs and upgrades.

POSTED: 05/09/23 at 3:51 am. FILED UNDER: News