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Save the clock tower
Clock Restoration
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Efforts are underway to repair and restore the Columbiana County Courthouse clock in Lisbon, Oh.
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Craig Brown, Columbiana County recorder is involved in efforts to repair and restore the clock atop the historic Columbiana County Courthouse in downtown Lisbon.
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Columbiana County Commissioner Jim Hoppel inspects the inside of the courthouse clock. Efforts are underway to repair and restore the clock atop the historic Columbiana County Courthouse in downtown Lisbon.
By D.A. WILKINSON
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
It’s about time that the clock in the Columbiana County Courthouse in Lisbon worked, a local preservationist says.
Stevie Halverstadt, who has been restoring the oldest brick building in Ohio beside the courthouse, said the county has a tower clock made by noted clock maker Edward Howard.
Howard, born in 1813, created a company that made tower clocks until 1964.
Halverstadt said of the clock, “It’s a symbol that the county runs right.”
Clocks are important to us, she said. Even communities that don’t have courthouses have clocks. Columbiana has a clock in the center of its major traffic intersection, she added.
And without a working clock, she said, “time stands still.”
County officials and area preservations are trying to repair or replace the mechanism of the clock that was installed about 1936. The clock hasn’t worked for about five years, according to Commissioner Jim Hoppel, who oversees county properties.
Hoppel is taking a low-cost approach while Craig Brown, the county recorder and chairman of the Lisbon Landmark Foundation, a non-profit offshoot of the Lisbon Area Chamber of Commerce, is taking another.
The proposed improvements are the latest in a series to the courthouse, including restoring the worn courtrooms and replacing the windows, new heating and cooling systems, painting, cleaning, and hanging photos of the county’s judges.
The four clock faces are all operated and connected by long metal rods to one motor. Brown pointed out, however, that the clocks all stopped at different times.
Hoppel said Bill Alexander of Winona is trying to replace a gear in the clock. Alexander is also trying to fix the clockwork to prevent the gears from stripping if there is a malfunction.
Hoppel said the cost may only be a few hundred dollars.
The foundation is taking a modern response with its “Rock the Clock” raffle.
People can buy a ticket for $5 to win an Oscar Schmidt Washburn electric guitar signed by singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer Richard Marx. The pop star had a number of hits in the 1980s and early 1990s, especially, “Should’ve Known Better.”
Marx’s mother was raised in East Liverpool. Fittingly, DC Music in Calcutta provided the guitar. The winner will be announced during the Johnny Appleseed Festival in Lisbon in September, literally in the shadow of the clock tower.
Brown estimated that it would take about $6,000 to $10,000 to hire a professional business to fix the clock.
The white glass faces in the circular clock windows were made from vitrolite, a popular art glass that is no longer made in the United States. The clock face that overlooks the Lisbon square has a crack running from top to bottom through the center of the glass.
The wood frames that hold the clock faces in place also need repair.
If Alexander is successful with the gear, the money raised for the clocks could help fix the bell. Its chiming mechanism does not work although the bell can be rung by hand.
To get to the bell, people have to climb a step-ladder through a fake ceiling, swing sideways to grasp a metal ladder fixed to the wall, and climb to a landing where the bell is located.
The bell, Brown said, “Is the size of a Volkswagen.”
People then have to climb stairs to reach the clock.
Faint scratches on the clock room wall state that Tower Clock Services serviced the clock on Nov, 1, 1973. Other scratches give the name of the company, a post office box, and a city — Springfield — but no state, or date or type of work.
Another scratching reads, “Fixed clock Dennis Beeson 1985.”
The cost of repairing the bell mechanism isn’t known but isn’t expected to be huge.
What could be a major cost is the dome of the courthouse itself that isn’t even being considered now.
Brown said he believes the dome was covered with bright copper that eventually turned green and has been covered with dirt, grime and, at times, with roofing tar to prevent leaks.
Brown guessed that it would take $250,000 to return the dome to its original glory.
X Tickets for the guitar raffle may also be purchased by contacting the Lisbon chamber of Commerce at (330) 424-1803.
wilkinson@vindy.com