Charming Okanagan clocktower ticking again in small community

There’s a charming clock tower in Summerland that's been a fixture of the downtown for more than 30 years.

Locals were quick to notice when the beloved landmark took a time-out earlier this year but thanks to Bruce Hallquist, the clock is right more than twice a day again.

Hallquist’s family has owned the business at the corner of Main Street and Victoria Road since the tower was built in 1989, and he’s been keeping the gears turning ever since.

What made the Hallquists decide to decorate the town with a classic clock tower?

“We wanted to have a clock downtown,” he said. “Nobody particularly wanted it at street level so we put it up on our building.”

The family ordered the parts and built the clock on site. The tower matches a Tudor theme, which local developers were encouraged to do in 1989, Hallquist said.

It runs on electricity. The four-sided clock is run by one mechanism, with rods connected to each face to turn the hands.

“The metal gears mesh together so they all tell the same time.”

READ MORE: Odd inheritance: 1889 landmark courthouse with clock tower

It recently needed to be repaired because the controller broke – a part that cost a couple thousand dollars to replace, he said.

“I think this is the third controller since the clock was built.”

To get up in the clock, Hallquist has to remove a ceiling tile in the shop below and climbing up a ladder.

“It’s just a big box up there,” he said adding that it’s about five feet wide in both directions.

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