A clock in downtown Clarks Summit looks to be removed due to costly repairs and property disputes.
CLARKS SUMMIT, Pa. — A clock stands tall in downtown Clarks Summit. It’s been that way for 40 years.
But soon it will come down.
Borough manager Jennifer Basalyga says recent efforts to try and repair the broken hands and structure could cost the borough thousands. The private property it sits on creates another issue that Basalyga says has them looking to build somewhere else.
“The borough itself does not own that property where the clock tower stands. It is owned by Mr. Decker,” said Basalyga.
Back when it was built in the mid-80s, property owner Jack Decker says he gave the borough permission to put up the clock and maintain it free of charge.
Newswatch 16 spoke with Decker over the phone. He says a recent disagreement over increased sewer rates and a lack of communication with the borough has brought things to a head.
Despite this, however, Decker says he never told the borough to take the clock tower down.
“You know, any kind of liability, you know, we’ve had this there for 40 years. It was donated to the borough, not on our property,” said Basalyga. “We thought it may be the best thing, honestly, is to take it down and to put the property back to its original condition when, you know, when it was owned before the clock tower was put up.”
Along with the clock, concrete and electrical box, a memorial plaque to Laura Lee DeFazio Morabito — a Clarks Summit native killed in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks — will also be moved.
Basalyga says they are looking for a new place to house it.
“We just know that that is part of what needs to be removed from the site, so we want to put it somewhere else, you know, to memorialize it and to give it the proper dedication,” said Basalyga.
No official decision on the 9/11 memorial has been made.
Council will vote to accept a bid and pick a date to dismantle the clock sometime in the next few months.