The Clock is Ticking, but Time may be running out!
The Dow Academy Clock Tower is the Icon of the Village of Franconia
 The Icon on Old Home Day.
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Franconia's historic clock and tower needs your help. A "restore the clock project" is underway aimed at involving the town government, the Dow Academy Condo Association and all concerned citizens of
Franconia. Your help is needed either through a financial donation or by serving on the restoration committee. Please donate today or if you wish to serve on the committee, which is presently being formed, contact: Pete Dauten at 823-5091 or Kim Cowles recreation@franconianh.org |
Article from the Littleton Courier
By
Meghan McCarthy McPhaul
FRANCONIA, N.H.—Rising above the center of town, the Dow Academy clock has kept time for the community for more than a century. The four clock faces broadcast the time in each direction, while the bell inside the clock tower rings each hour of every day.
The wear and tear of time have taken their toll, however, and now there is renewed talk from both town officials and residents of the Dow Academy condominiums of developing and funding a plan to complete a restoration of the decaying clock and tower.
“My interest is, being an ex-history teacher, I hate to see architecture messed up,” said Dow resident Peter Dauten. “The building is a centerpiece of the town, architecturally, culturally, historically.”
Converted from school rooms to condominium units decades ago, the Dow building is privately owned, but the clock and bell are town property. Confusion over which entity owns the actual clock tower – the town or the Dow Condo Association –has allowed a gradual decay of both clock and tower, as neither has been able or willing to fund necessary repairs.
“It’s a question of who owns what, and it’s also a question of who wants to pay for what,” said Franconia Board of Selectman Chair Richard McLeod. “Somebody needs to come up with a plan.”
That’s what Dow residents hope to do over the next several months. Dauten and two other members of the Condo Association have formed a committee to determine what work needs to be done to the clock tower and develop a plan to raise the necessary funding. Ultimately, he said, he would like to create a committee with representatives from the town, as well as interested alumni of both Dow Academy and Franconia College.
Some Dow residents have broached the subject of restoring the clock tower with Kim Cowles, the town’s recreation director, who spends much of her work time maintaining the playing fields adjacent to the Dow Academy building. She also climbs onto the roof of the building, through a small access door, to hang large bat and black cat figurines prior to the town’s Halloween celebration, and Christmas lights and a snowman in the winter.
Selectmen have asked Cowles to look into what funds may be available beyond tax dollars to help foot the bill of repairing the clock and clock tower.
“I view it as an icon of the town,” Kim Cowles said of the clock. “There’s a lot of history with that whole building.”
The Dow Academy building was built in 1903 in a public-private partnership between the town’s school district and the trustees of the academy. Franconia school students attended Dow Academy until 1958. Soon after, the Dow Academy trustees founded Franconia College. When that institution folded, the building was transformed into 12 condominium units.
The Dow Academy building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
The Dow bell was given to “the boys and girls of Franconia” in 1903 by Henry Noyes, who Cowles believes was a teacher at Dow Academy. Somewhere along the line the clock was also given to the town. Town ownership of both is noted in the property deed, along with the right to access the clock tower to maintain and repair the clock and bell.
For many years, longtime Franconia resident Don Eastman wound the clock each week and performed general maintenance. When Eastman died two years ago, Dow resident Ed Rolfe took over the weekly winding duties, for which he is paid by the town.
What is confusing to all parties is who owns the actual clock tower. What is clear is that the tower is in desperate need of attention. Columns are broken, wood is rotting and paint peeling, roof shingles are old and decaying, and the Roman numeral IV is missing from the clock face on the west side of the cupola.
In 2010, a petitioned article on the Town Meeting warrant seeking $40,000 for restoring and repairing the clock tower was tabled. No such article was on the warrant in 2011, and none is expected this year.
Estimates for repair and restoration in 2010 included removing and replacing the tower’s roofing, painting the tower, repairing broken columns, and a “complete overhaul” of the clock faces, to include resurfacing, new Roman numerals, and new clock hands.
At the 2010 town meeting, it was pointed out that should the town formally assume ownership of the tower, the project of restoring and maintaining it would likely be eligible for more grant funding.
While planning is in preliminary stages, Cowles said the committee will look into grant funding possibilities and reach out to alumni and others interested in the Dow clock. Last year an informal appeal during the annual Hayseed Music Festival on the town-owned Dow field yielded $130 for repairing the clock. Once outside funding sources have been exhausted, the group will likely appeal to Town Meeting voters in 2013 to make up the difference.
“There are enough people who have interest in this building,” said Dauten. And regardless of the ownership confusion, “We’re all aware of the fact that something needs to be done, or we’re going to have a serious problem up there.”
Meghan McCarthy McPhaul
FRANCONIA, N.H.—Rising above the center of town, the Dow Academy clock has kept time for the community for more than a century. The four clock faces broadcast the time in each direction, while the bell inside the clock tower rings each hour of every day.
The wear and tear of time have taken their toll, however, and now there is renewed talk from both town officials and residents of the Dow Academy condominiums of developing and funding a plan to complete a restoration of the decaying clock and tower.
“My interest is, being an ex-history teacher, I hate to see architecture messed up,” said Dow resident Peter Dauten. “The building is a centerpiece of the town, architecturally, culturally, historically.”
Converted from school rooms to condominium units decades ago, the Dow building is privately owned, but the clock and bell are town property. Confusion over which entity owns the actual clock tower – the town or the Dow Condo Association –has allowed a gradual decay of both clock and tower, as neither has been able or willing to fund necessary repairs.
“It’s a question of who owns what, and it’s also a question of who wants to pay for what,” said Franconia Board of Selectman Chair Richard McLeod. “Somebody needs to come up with a plan.”
That’s what Dow residents hope to do over the next several months. Dauten and two other members of the Condo Association have formed a committee to determine what work needs to be done to the clock tower and develop a plan to raise the necessary funding. Ultimately, he said, he would like to create a committee with representatives from the town, as well as interested alumni of both Dow Academy and Franconia College.
Some Dow residents have broached the subject of restoring the clock tower with Kim Cowles, the town’s recreation director, who spends much of her work time maintaining the playing fields adjacent to the Dow Academy building. She also climbs onto the roof of the building, through a small access door, to hang large bat and black cat figurines prior to the town’s Halloween celebration, and Christmas lights and a snowman in the winter.
Selectmen have asked Cowles to look into what funds may be available beyond tax dollars to help foot the bill of repairing the clock and clock tower.
“I view it as an icon of the town,” Kim Cowles said of the clock. “There’s a lot of history with that whole building.”
The Dow Academy building was built in 1903 in a public-private partnership between the town’s school district and the trustees of the academy. Franconia school students attended Dow Academy until 1958. Soon after, the Dow Academy trustees founded Franconia College. When that institution folded, the building was transformed into 12 condominium units.
The Dow Academy building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
The Dow bell was given to “the boys and girls of Franconia” in 1903 by Henry Noyes, who Cowles believes was a teacher at Dow Academy. Somewhere along the line the clock was also given to the town. Town ownership of both is noted in the property deed, along with the right to access the clock tower to maintain and repair the clock and bell.
For many years, longtime Franconia resident Don Eastman wound the clock each week and performed general maintenance. When Eastman died two years ago, Dow resident Ed Rolfe took over the weekly winding duties, for which he is paid by the town.
What is confusing to all parties is who owns the actual clock tower. What is clear is that the tower is in desperate need of attention. Columns are broken, wood is rotting and paint peeling, roof shingles are old and decaying, and the Roman numeral IV is missing from the clock face on the west side of the cupola.
In 2010, a petitioned article on the Town Meeting warrant seeking $40,000 for restoring and repairing the clock tower was tabled. No such article was on the warrant in 2011, and none is expected this year.
Estimates for repair and restoration in 2010 included removing and replacing the tower’s roofing, painting the tower, repairing broken columns, and a “complete overhaul” of the clock faces, to include resurfacing, new Roman numerals, and new clock hands.
At the 2010 town meeting, it was pointed out that should the town formally assume ownership of the tower, the project of restoring and maintaining it would likely be eligible for more grant funding.
While planning is in preliminary stages, Cowles said the committee will look into grant funding possibilities and reach out to alumni and others interested in the Dow clock. Last year an informal appeal during the annual Hayseed Music Festival on the town-owned Dow field yielded $130 for repairing the clock. Once outside funding sources have been exhausted, the group will likely appeal to Town Meeting voters in 2013 to make up the difference.
“There are enough people who have interest in this building,” said Dauten. And regardless of the ownership confusion, “We’re all aware of the fact that something needs to be done, or we’re going to have a serious problem up there.”
