The next few weeks will offer the chance of a lifetime for many Petalumans to get an up-close view of their historic town clock.
The 125-year-old Seth Thomas clock, taken out of service a year ago and removed from its tower atop the Masonic building downtown last fall, has been painstakingly repaired and refurbished by an unusual source: prison labor, courtesy of the Eastern Oregon Correctional Institute.
Last week, the 1,000-pound timepiece returned to Petaluma in the back of a pickup truck and was carefully unloaded at the Petaluma Historical Library and Museum, where it will be on display beginning Thursday, April 24.
Those who?ve seen the restored clock mechanism, repainted in its original green and gold color scheme, give it rave reviews.
?It?s absolutely gorgeous,? Mayor Pamela Torliatt said at Monday?s City Council meeting, following a slideshow presentation of the clock?s journey.
The restoration project was spearheaded by city traffic engineer Frank Penry, whose workers keep the clock wound and maintained inside the Masonic lodge tower.
When city workers discovered the clock was ?losing time? and in need of repair last year, officials worried that the cost could exceed an already outdated estimate of at least $30,000.
But thanks to the partnership with the Oregon prison and its unique master clocksmith apprenticeship program, the city will pay only $5,300 to have the clock cleaned, repaired and back in town to be displayed during Petaluma?s sesquicentennial year.
?The clock is basically in pristine condition,? Penry said. ?Once it got to Oregon, they completely dismantled it. They took it apart to the bolt.?
Led by clocksmith Gary Kopperud of Pendleton, Ore., a team of 70 inmates worked on the clock from October of last year until earlier this month.
The effort involved four different labor shops at the penitentiary ? even the upholstery shop, which wanted in on the prison-wide work, Penry said.
They removed built-up grime from the clock?s gears, repaired worn pieces of the machinery and gave the clock its most thorough tune-up in 55 years, Penry said.
They even added an additional feature ? the words ?Petaluma, California? inscribed on part of the clock.
Seven of the inmates who train under Kopperud have become certified clockmakers themselves, Penry said.
?Some of these inmates will never leave the facility, but what they did was basically artistry,? he said.
The museum will have the clock on display during its regular hours and a special unveiling ceremony will be held at 7 p.m. on Wednesday April 30, said Susan Villa, the museum association?s president.
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