By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON March 28, 2013 Bob Jurk, currently a Senior Project leader in the Engineering department, remembers the day when he put the actual clock fixture into the Burlington Blue cast iron structure that has been standing outside city hall since 1999.
John Bouwman is said to be the person who decided that Burlington needed a clock outside city hall and he knew just the kind of clock the city needed. That was the starting point for the clock that has been on location since 1999. One of the reasons we made this picture as large as we did is because of the reflection in the shop window. You can see the Google car driving by and photographing every street of every city in North America. Look closely and you can see the camera mounted atop the car.
They are going to lift the clock off its base and get it into the shop for a check up. The clock has been in place since 1999 – and has apparently never missed a beat.
Keith Strong remembers too how people in the community came together to get the clock in place. John Bouwman, operator of the Clockmaker on John Street, is said to be the person who came up with the idea and Mrs. Carol Wardle of Wardle Insurance offered a generous contribution and before you knew it – the clock was a done deal. All it took was the typical Keith Strong, roll up your sleeves and get it done approach, and close to fifteen years later that clock is out for a fix up.
It’s going to take a couple of weeks to complete the job of refurbishing the device – so if you are depending on the sound of the chimes to get to work on time – leave home a little earlier.
The clock was installed in 1999 to commemorate the 125th anniversary of Burlington’s incorporation as a village. The city gave twin city Itabashi, Japan, a replica of the clock as a friendship gift in 1999 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the cities’ twinning agreement.
In 2014, Burlington and Itabashi will celebrate 25 years since the cities originally signed a twinning agreement.
Civic Square also includes a millennium fountain, built and installed to mark the year 2000; a bronze statue built to honour soldiers who gave their lives in the First World War, installed in 1986; and a drinking fountain built to commemorate a visit by the Prince of Wales and installed at the site in 1977.
A lot of history in a small space.
