A historic clock on Main Avenue recently underwent surgery – again.
“We’ve been trying to get this thing going forever and try to keep it original,” said Royce Holland, owner of Fuller’s Gun and Pawn Shop where the clock resides. “Well, that didn’t work out so good because the parts were too old! So we’ve got complete, new replacement stuff up there.”
The timepiece is at least a century old. It was manufactured by McClintock-Loomis, a Minneapolis company that was only in business from 1908 to 1917.
Jeff Fieldsend, an electrician, has been volunteering his time on the project over the past couple of years, while his employer, Davis Electric, loaned scaffolding and a boom truck for the multiple operations.
Fieldsend’s mom, Judy, said the clock can be seen in pictures of Park Rapids dating from the 1920s. She urged Jeff to fix the timekeeper back in 2018. He was able to get the north and south faces functioning.
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Unfortunately, time crept up on the aging clockwork.
“There were parts that were so old, they were very unreliable, so we just decided to go ahead and change everything. There’s a new controller on it and two new clock motors,” Jeff explained. “They had to custom make the hands to make it fit that clock. It’s kind of an oddball length on the hands.”
He and his brother, Chris, repaired the ticker at the end of May.
“I did a lot of searching online. I contacted three or four different clockmakers,” Jeff said, finally settling on a Michigan-based business called Lumichron Clock Company. “With the face that we had, these were the only guys that could get a motor to fit through the hole. They were very nice people.”
Jeff said shipping took the most time because some parts had to travel from Switzerland to Wisconsin to Park Rapids. “The COVID-19 thing happened in between,” he added.
Once the parts arrived, Jeff said the clock was up and running again within two hours.
“So far, it’s working great,” he said.
The clock is programmed to light up at dusk.
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“It’s keeping time,” Holland agreed.
Located at the corner of Main and 2nd Street, the building originally was First National Bank. Later, it housed Citizens National Bank and Park Rapids city administration. Holland’s sister, Betty Fuller, and brother-in-law, Jerry, previously owned the pawn shop.
Holland said Jerry, who passed away in 2011, always wanted to fix the clock but received outrageously high quotes.
“The clock goes back a long time,” Holland said. “We did find out it used to have chimes. The chimes quit working in 1925. Put that into perspective. That’s a while ago.”
Holland has been unable to find out when the clock itself quit working.
“Nobody knew what to do with this. Couldn’t get parts. It was complicated.”
He recalls, as a kid, riding his bike downtown and looking at the clock to get home in time for supper.
“It’s kinda nice to have it work now. It’s kind of a historical thing,” he said.
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Engel Sign Company donated letters for the clock face.
“We’re in the process of trying to find somebody to dare paint it,” Holland said of the clock faces.
He is grateful for the Fieldsends’ efforts. “I would’ve used dynamite a long time ago,” Holland quipped.
