The Gorham village clock has stopped, and now, proposed repairs have, too.
The Gorham Town Council approved in July spending $38,000 to repair the clock in the steeple at the First Parish Church. But with ownership of the clock in question, the town won’t move forward on a repair contract.
The clock has been in the church since shortly after the Civil War. It is believed to have been a gift to the town in 1868 from Toppan Robie, then one of Gorham’s leading citizens and moderator at the church.
Town Manager David Cole said a recent rumor that the church might make a claim of ownership prompted him to write a letter to the church, asking for a signed waiver disclaiming clock ownership.
“I thought it prudent to send the letter to the church to sign off and relinquish their claims,” Cole said.
Town Councilor Burleigh Loveitt said public money wouldn’t be spent on repairs until ownership is resolved. “I put a stop to the process,” said Loveitt, who chairs the council’s clock committee and is also a member of the church.
But at the church, no one is claiming clock ownership.
“The church doesn’t challenge the town’s ownership of the clock in any way,” said the Rev. David Butler, pastor.
Cole’s letter was addressed to Mark Faunce, moderator at the First Parish Church. Faunce said the church’s executive council would have the authority to sign the waiver, but the church council hasn’t discussed the matter yet. He said the next regular meeting would come on Sept. 24.
Brenda Caldwell, a former town clerk who is also a member of the church executive council, said the church doesn’t own the clock. “That clock belongs to the town,” Caldwell said.
Caldwell, the church’s historian, said records show that the town of Gorham accepted the gift clock. She is preparing historical research of the clock with a timeline to present to the town council for its meeting Tuesday, Sept. 5.
Even with the ownership issue resolved, there’s still the matter of where to place the clock once it is fixed.
To repair it, the clock’s inner workings would need to be removed from the steeple. The four clock faces would remain. Faunce will ask the town council to leave the clock in the church. He said the church’s recommendation would be to install the inner workings of the clock in a case in the church vestibule, where it could be viewed by the public. Through a shaft mechanism, it could still operate the facings in the steeple.
Town Councilor Matt Robinson said he opposes spending money from the town’s general funds to repair the clock and place it in the church. “I think it should go in the new municipal center,” he said.
The histories of the church, which once served as a town meeting house, and the town of Gorham are intertwined. The clock once tolled the church’s Paul Revere bell.
But Robinson cited concerns about the separation of church and state in having town-owned property in a church. “In the 1800s, it wasn’t an issue like it is today,” he said.
Robinson said he wished the council had resolved where the clock would go when it approved repair money. He said he favored a fundraiser for repairs instead of using taxpayer money, if the clock were to stay in the church.
A repair contract with Balzer Clock Co. in Freeport has been approved, but remains unsigned. “We’ll just sit and wait,” said Rick Balzer, company owner.
Cole expected repairs to take six months. “It’s a nice piece of Gorham history,” he said.
The Howard Watch and Clock Co. in Boston manufactured the clock. Robie paid $500 for the clock, which is now considered priceless. It was never electrified.
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