Pendleton Tries Hand At Clock’S Restoration

Sat., Sept. 18, 1999

City officials are struggling to restore a historic one-of-a-kind clock tower that will be featured on the cover of a national Tower Clock Society publication.

“At this time it’s doing fine, but if it’s still running tomorrow, I’ll be amazed,” said Gary Kopperud, a volunteer clocksmith who been trying to get the 1,000-pound clock up and running since it stopped earlier this year.

“If it’s still running a week from now, I’ll be even more amazed,” Kopperud said. The clock’s bell is cracked, and modifications need to be made to the way its 58-foot-long shaft works to drive the clock hands.

The Seth Thomas Model 17 clock, originally installed in the tower of the old Umatilla County Courthouse in 1888, was dismantled and stored in a county shed when the courthouse was torn down in 1954.

In 1987 the clock was found and a committee was formed to raise funds and build the new tower on the front lawn of the new courthouse. The project was completed in 1989.

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