John Mahler and Mike Kuyt inspect the upper movement assembly from the 1906 Seth Thomas movement. This assembly was removed from the tower, disassembled, cleaned and overhauled in the shop. New bearings were fabricated, pivots turned and polished and arbors straightened. Visible at eye level in the photo is the fan and clutch mechanism that softens the shock to the upper wheels each time the pendulum swings and the gravity escapement locks. Gravity escapements are typically only found in tower clocks because they are not effected substantially by large swings in temperature and humidity.

Several newspaper articles and television stories resulted from the project. Downtown Rochester had been in decline for some years since the advent of the suburbs. The restoration of this historic and well known centerpiece of the metropolitan area was seen as one indication of its re-birth.  Many people remember the striking of the clock and it rung a nostalgic chord for those who used to meet or shop at Rochester's main crossroads underneath.

The Sibley's Department Store occupied this building for many years. It was a grand old store in the tradition of Macy's and was especially well known for its Christmas displays and decorations. The facility now houses a community college, offices and a mall of smaller shops.

The small clockmaker's dial on the front is necessary because the dials are two stories above the room where the movement is. The hands on the four 8 foot diameter dials can be set from below using the clockmakers dial as an indication of their positions. The large brass gears on the left are part of the striking mechanism. The clock movement pulls a 60 pound hammer that strikes a huge 4 and 1/2 foot diameter cast bronze bell on the next floor above. A cam was available to designate which hours the clock would strike and which it would remain silent. Note the brass cam assembly at the very top of the movement designed to turn the lights in the tower on and off automatically. The arms of the gravity escapement are visible just above the small clockmaker's dial.

In the above photo, Mike Kuyt is aligning some key bearings with the arbors to maintain freedom of endshake after the re-building of a bearing. Note the drive shaft and universal joint that sends power to the dial room two floors above.

Above the clock mechanism, the bell room and the dial room, there are still two floors to the tower. If one takes the time to climb the winding stairs and ladders to the very top, there is a small hatch that opens just underneath the weather vane through the copper roof. The photo above shows the view looking north over Rochester, NY with Lake Ontario in the background.