Downtown clock finally chiming in
The clock tower rests on the roof of the Empire Building on Courthouse Square.
John Burgess / PDPublished: Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 6:53 p.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 6:53 p.m.
Hear that?
Every hour on the hour for the past few days, the chiming of a great clock has resonated from the heart of Santa Rosa.
It's a civilized, vintage percussion that relative newcomers to Old Courthouse Square in downtown haven't heard before. For old-timers, the sound rings a bell.
Its source is the 104-year-old clock on the gold-domed cupola of the Empire Building, one of the city's best recognized landmarks.
The clock's hands were frozen in place last fall when John Roche, 40, and Cory Vader, 31, chose an office in the 1908 building as home for their new information technology business.
They asked about the clock and received a bit of history from officers of Geary, Shea, O'Donnell, Grattan & Mitchell, the historic law firm that owns the four-story building and is its chief tenant.
Roche and Vader discovered the clock hadn't functioned since longtime building superintendent — and clock tender — Dan Marlin retired to Wyoming last summer.
The pair learned also that it's been much longer since the clock's bell has sounded with any consistency.
Back in 1998, the law firm hired a tower-clock conservationist to perform renovations. He had no particular trouble restoring the clockworks, but found that teeth were missing from a key gear on the bell mechanism.
The estimated cost to remove, duplicate and replace the century-old gear was astronomical — about $150,000. So for at least the past 14 years, the bell's been used barely at all.
Keen to re-activate the clock, Roche and Vader studied the winding instructions that Marlin left behind. And earlier this week, they had a go at it.
“All it is is a big grandfather's clock,” Roche said. He and Vader took turns turning the crank that raises the clock's counterweights.
They also gave a cautious few cranks to raise the weight that powers the striking of the bell. They were in the tower the first time the hefty hammer struck the great bell.
“It was frightening, to say the least,” Vader said.
He and Roche vow they'll now keep the clock wound. But they think they'd better refrain from winding the bell-works until they're repaired.
Law partner Pat Grattan said his firm has a lead on a way to replace the broken gear for far less than $150,000.
So the cupola clock is working again and before long the bell may return to duty announcing the hour to all within earshot.
Ralph Morgenbesser, who sells hotdogs beneath the tower, loves hearing the clock's bell chime again. “It's bringing us back to another time,” he said.
Staff Writer and columnist Chris Smith can be reached at 521-5237 and chris.smith@pressdemocrat.com.
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