University of Michigan's Burton Tower clock frozen at 6:30 p.m.
It’s 6:30 p.m.
No matter what time you’re reading this, it’s 6:30 p.m. — at least if you look at the clock on the Burton Memorial Tower.
That’s because construction work on the tower has necessitated the temporary stoppage of the clock.
In 2008, construction workers picked loose chunks of stone from beneath the copper sheeting on the side of Burton Tower.
The university is repairing stonework and replacing metal flashing on the tower and repairing the metal framework supporting the carillon. Emergency repairs were made in 2008 to fix cracking and falling limestone.
The clock isn’t the only part of the tower that’s temporarily been stopped.
In September, the chimes and bells in the carillon were silenced. That’s only the second time in the 75-year history of the tower that the bells have been quieted.
Burton Tower houses classrooms for the School of Music, Theatre & Dance, offices for the Department of Musicology and Ethnomusicology, the University Musical Society and the Charles Baird Carillon.
The project will cost $1.6 million. Construction began in August and should be completed in the summer of 2011.
The clock is scheduled to start ticking again before the end of the year.
David Jesse covers higher education for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at davidjesse@annarbor.com or at 734-623-2534.
Comments
flygande_jakob
Fri, Oct 22, 2010 : 8:34 a.m.
This is really funny if anyone's read Infinite Jest. Lenz has a "recurving nightmare" about a clock whose hands are eternally frozen at 6:30. Hehehe.
Tom Teague
Thu, Oct 21, 2010 : 11:17 a.m.
at least it's right twice a day. that's double my daily average.
jameslucas
Thu, Oct 21, 2010 : 11:14 a.m.
First the 2001 clocking stopping with 1 second on it, now this, have angered Chronos in some way?
Mumbambu, Esq.
Thu, Oct 21, 2010 : 11 a.m.
Yes, 10:04 pm - next saturday night would have been much better! Is there a lady shaking a can of coins handing out flyers in front of it? Lets see...what else? There must be some specialized weather sensitive equipment for which the operator has a permit nearby. That's good for now...
redwingshero
Thu, Oct 21, 2010 : 10:48 a.m.
Wait, wasn't there a storm last night? Did anyone see a Delorean flying by at 88mph? 1.21 gigawatts? What the hell is a gigawatt? Fitting that this is occuring on the 25th anniversary of Back to the Future.
ThaKillaBee
Thu, Oct 21, 2010 : 10:42 a.m.
"Save the clock tower."
nickcarraweigh
Thu, Oct 21, 2010 : 10:40 a.m.
The clock was stopped by the brothers of the Alpha Beta Gamma fraternity as a prank in the second term of the Eisenhower Administration, but it was not noticed until recently when for the first time since then a campus visitor who actually knew what time it was happened to glance upwards.
Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball
Thu, Oct 21, 2010 : 10:23 a.m.
Dr. Emmett Brown: Marty, I'm sorry. But the only power source capable of generating 1.21 gigawatts of electricity is a bolt of lightning. Marty McFly: What did you say? Dr. Emmett Brown: A bolt of lighting. Unfortunately, you never know when or where it's ever gonna strike. Marty McFly: We do now.
C6
Thu, Oct 21, 2010 : 10:15 a.m.
Excellent question, Jeff Renner... Excellent!
David Briegel
Thu, Oct 21, 2010 : 9:53 a.m.
I just drove by the other day and marveled that the time was accurate. Your story caused a double take. I am relieved.
quetzalcoatl
Thu, Oct 21, 2010 : 9:32 a.m.
Well, actually if the clock was stopped by construction workers then it is 6:30 a.m. Twelve hours later, the workers who stopped it would have been collecting overtime. We all have had enough years of experience to know U-M administration would never condone paying overtime unnecessarily and the Regents would have been quite upset to get the bills when they returned from their recent fact-finding study to Tahiti. Or was it to Aruba? No matter. They would have been upset.
Jeff Renner
Thu, Oct 21, 2010 : 9:25 a.m.
How do you know that it's PM and not AM?;-)