TWIN FALLS, Idaho — This neat old clock has been part of the landscape of Main Avenue for decades. Now, it is back up and running again.
- The clock was originally installed by Caine's Furnishings, which owned the property on the corner of Main Ave and Gooding Streets.
- It hasn't told time for decades, but no one is quite sure when it stopped working.
- The clock is a replica of a model from the 1800s, but is considerably newer, having been installed in the 1970s.
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
Downtown Twin Falls kicked off its revitalization efforts six years ago, but here and there are a few elements still awaiting upgrades
“This is a beautiful thing that's been here long time and it'll be nice to have it running again,” Peter Doble told Idaho News 6.
One area seeing improvements -- the corner of Main Ave and Gooding Street, where for decades, this old fancy clock was only right twice a day.
“I don't know that I ever remember it running,” Doble said. “I remember being down here and i remember looking at it, but i can't tell you to reset my watch to it.”
The clock is a reproduction of a model from the 1800s, and was installed when the building was owned by Caine's Furnishings, some time in the 1970s
Over time ... the clock stopped ticking. And hasn't run properly in decades
"I'd always come down here,” Eric Smallwood told Idaho News 6. “I live not far away and I’ve always seen it sitting here: beautiful, but not telling time."
Smallwood is on the board of the urban renewal agency, which was responsible for the main avenue upgrades.
“We'd just beautified downtown and we have this beautiful clock down here. Let's make it tell time,” Smallwood said. “We're obviously repairing things all the time and getting things functioning and improving our buildings and this just fits right in with that.”
The URA had a little money left over, so Smallwood asked some be set aside to get the old clock back in working order
“This movement hadn't been made in a gazillion years of course all the parts are long gone,” Smallwood said. “But this guy was able to find the plans for that original movement and get one contract made for us.”
And after a day of putting it all together, the Twin Falls clock is now back on track.
