{"id":165944,"date":"2023-05-09T03:51:56","date_gmt":"2023-05-09T08:51:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=165944"},"modified":"2023-05-09T03:51:57","modified_gmt":"2023-05-09T08:51:57","slug":"plans-revealed-for-downtown-vw-clock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2023\/05\/09\/plans-revealed-for-downtown-vw-clock\/","title":{"rendered":"Plans revealed for downtown VW clock"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong>independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The iconic Van Wert National Bank Clock on E. Main St. in downtown Van Wert is coming down, but don\u2019t worry \u2013 it\u2019s only temporary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During Monday night\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The 100-year-old clock on E. Main St. is getting a massive overhaul. Scott Truxell\/Van Wert independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRenovations look like they\u2019re 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,\u201d Dray explained. \u201cThat\u2019s something that wasn\u2019t done in the past or we\u2019d still have a really good looking clock.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dray noted that once work is complete, the clock will look different in some ways, but the same in other ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOn the outside the things you\u2019re going to notice are the paint \u2013 the paint\u2019s going to be different, we\u2019re talking more like a black color with gold trim,\u201d he said. \u201cThe base is going to be put on a pedestal to raise it up so when the salt (trucks) come through it\u2019s up high enough\u2026that actually ate away at the current base so bad and I don\u2019t know how it\u2019s still standing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe stained glass is going to stay in it and it\u2019s all going to be restored, LEDs are going to go in it so we\u2019re actually going to be able to change the colors of the inside of the clock if we want,\u201d Dray continued. \u201cSo for holidays like Christmas we can make it red and green or St. Patrick\u2019s Day we can turn it all green.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll 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,\u201d Dray stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Main Street Van Wert\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe would like to see it taken out by the end of the month and get this project underway,\u201d Dray said. \u201cAfter that, they said it\u2019s anywhere between 6-12 months for restoration. They don\u2019t want to give us an exact timeline because they don\u2019t 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is something you don\u2019t want to rush, you want to take your time and make sure it\u2019s done right,\u201d he added. \u201cWe\u2019re looking at once it\u2019s taken out probably 8-12 months. It will be back, I promise.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smith\u2019s Bell and Clock in Camby, Indiana is being tasked with making the necessary repairs and upgrades.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent editor The iconic Van Wert National Bank Clock on E. Main St. in downtown Van Wert is coming down, but don\u2019t worry \u2013 it\u2019s only temporary. During Monday night\u2019s meeting of Van Wert City Council, plans were shared to revive the clock with modern technology, while keeping it historically accurate. Council members heard […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-165944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-30 20:57:34","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=165944"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165944\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":165958,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165944\/revisions\/165958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=165944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=165944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=165944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}