GILROY
– Old City Hall may have gone through a successful renaissance
in recent months, but its most well-known icon is stuck in time,
literally.
By Lori Stuenkel
GILROY – Old City Hall may have gone through a successful renaissance in recent months, but its most well-known icon is stuck in time, literally.
A yet-to-be-determined problem in the building’s clock tower is making all four clock faces atop Old City Hall show different times. It’s a problem that has recurred for roughly a year, but has gotten even more incongruent in recent weeks.
“This clock just seems to have a mind of its own,” said Daniel Barduzzi, co-owner of the two restaurants that now lease space in Old City Hall from the city. “We hope to have it fixed by next week.”
The clock problem had existed before Barduzzi and co-owner Glen Gurries opened their restaurants in the 1905 Baroque and Mission Revival style building at Monterey and Sixth Street.
Barduzzi said the restaurateurs have been doing what they can to get the clocks back on the right track. At the end of every night, restaurant workers head up to the clock tower and rewind the clock from the inside.
So far, it has worked to no avail.
“Someone needs to get on the outside and see what’s wrong with the hands,” Barduzzi said.
That’s exactly what city Facilities Supervisor Rick Brandini tried to arrange Friday for sometime this week. The repair could be simple or more expensive, such as the replacement of one of the clock’s parts. The city, Brandini said, purchased a $200-per-quarter maintenance plan with the Watsonville-based machinist and clock hobbyist, Dan Houseman, who refurbished the clock after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.
“Every time I drive by the tower it bugs me we can’t get this clock back in order, but we’re getting pulled in so many different directions right now that I just haven’t gotten around to getting it repaired,” Brandini said.
“This is a good reminder,” he said regarding a Dispatch reporter’s inquiries about the problem.
Brandini figures one of the clock’s gears has slipped in recent weeks and has made the time keeping worse.
Stuck clock hands are nothing new for Old City Hall. When the earthquake hit at 5:04 p.m. on Oct. 17, 1989, the clocks stopped, freezing the fateful time in the minds of all who experienced the massive temblor.
In 1959, an earthquake also made the clock stop at the moment it hit.
Otherwise, things inside the historic building are running smooth, Barduzzi said. The restaurants are getting steady crowds, the food is receiving strong reviews and Old City Hall played host to a joint election night party for Russ Valiquette and Dion Bracco.
“The community has been very nice to us. Things are going well,” Barduzzi said.
