It’s About Time Broken Steel Plate Stops Riverfront Park Landmark At 6 O’Clock

Eight inches of broken steel is holding up the passage of time in Riverfront Park these days.

The park’s landmark clock stopped running a little more than a week ago when a steel plate supporting the timepiece’s 700-pound brass pendulum snapped.

It will remain 6 o’clock in the park until a replacement part is installed, either in late February or early March, said Craig Butz, assistant park manager.

This is the third time in about two years the plate has snapped, said Dave Randolph, park labor foreman.

“The spring steel made today is just not as strong as the spring steel of 1902,” Randolph said. “The standards have changed.”

The 155-foot-tall clock tower was built in 1902 as part of a Great Northern Railroad depot. It was designated a historic landmark just prior to the Expo ‘74 World’s Fair.

Though the clock should be running by early March, Randolph is hoping to find a more durable plate than the ones that have been installed in recent years.

“We’ll have to involve a metallurgist to explore what our options are,” Randolph said. “We need to find a material with the flexibility of spring steel that is either stronger or thicker to hold up to the pressure of the pendulum swinging every second.”

The four-faced clock has stopped a number of times in recent years. Last March, three holes - possibly from bullets - appeared in the west face. High winds followed and pushed the damaged glass into the clock’s workings.

Corrosion on the weight and pulley system caused the clock to malfunction on St. Patrick’s Day in 1995.

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