The town clock is expected to return to its longtime home this fall now that the First Parish Congregational Church has raised the money needed for installation.
Gorham Town Council Chairman Burleigh Loveitt said the town and Balzer Family Clock Works inked an installation contract last week.
The church finished raising the $72,000 it needed to return the clock to the steeple, where it had been since 1868 before it was removed in 2006 for repairs after it stopped, Loveitt said.
Under the agreement, Balzer, which has been repairing and restoring the clock since 2006, will install the clock this fall in a lower level of the church for easier access, said Mark Faunce, church moderator.
The church raised the money thanks to several fundraisers and anonymous donors, Faunce said.
“The church is very excited at the prospect of finally having the clock restored and back in the steeple,” Faunce said. “It’s been a long process but we have in the past few months really made some progress in reaching our goal.”
The Town Council needs to approve the contract, but “that shouldn’t be a problem,” Loveitt said.
Where the clock should be reinstalled was the subject of much debate last year, after a few town councilors said they favored reinstallation of the clock at the Gorham Municipal Center. The move to put it at the Municipal Center failed in a 3-3 vote, with Town Councilor Brenda Caldwell, who was a secretary at the church at the time, recusing herself from the vote.
A Gorham couple, John and Rose Phinney, agreed to donate the $38,000 cost of repairing the clock to the church so the church could reimburse the town for the cost of repairs. That still left the church short of the total $72,000 it needed to complete the restoration and reinstallation project.
Under an agreement, the church was to have installed the clock by March 30 in a lower level accessible by the public. But church leaders said they needed more time to raise money to make modifications. The council extended the agreement to Sept. 30.
Previously, the town agreed to return the clock to the church in a lease for $1 a year.
The clock will now be where it is meant to be, Loveitt said.
“It’s in the town’s best interest,” he said. “It’s a Gorham landmark.”
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