What Time Is It?

Balancing on a catwalk in the attic, Lee Stewart displays what makes the Putnam County Courthouse clock tick. Heritage Preservation Society is raising funds to replace the current clock (above left) and add another to the north side of the courthouse. (Banner Graphic/JARED JERNAGAN)

Mike Hecko and Lee Stewart know the steps well.

There are 88 of them from ground level to the Putnam County Courthouse attic -- a closed-to-the-public fifth floor of the 111-year-old structure.

Once in the attic, the conditions aren't ideal -- limited ventilation, old wiring everywhere, wooden catwalks rather than floors, even unexposed iron beams that are known to crack the head of the 6-foot-4 Hecko and sometimes even the much shorter Stewart.

All to service a finicky, 34-year-old clock that isn't easy to read from street level anyway.

The time has come to replace the clock on the south side of the county courthouse, with another to be added on the north face. The planning stage has passed, with a quote even obtained from Camby-based contractor Smith Bell and Clock Inc.

Now it is a matter of the Heritage Preservation Society (HPS) of Putnam County raising the $21,180 for the proposed upgrades.

The effort isn't without existing or potential funding sources. While a grassroots effort for community contributions is taking place, HPS also raised funds through a tour of the Valentine House on East Washington Street in June and the Putnam County Commissioners have pledged their support for the project.

Additionally, HPS member Margaret Kenton has looked at other funding sources, including potential grants.

Any citizens or businesses wanting to support the effort may donate to the Heritage Preservation Society of Putnam County, PO Box 163, Greencastle, IN 46135 with "Courthouse Clocks" in the memo line.

For more information, contact HPS President Phil Gick at phillipgick@hotmail.com.

The story of the Putnam County Courthouse clock (and lack thereof) is as old as the courthouse itself.

The Putnam County Courthouse was dedicated on July 4, 1905, with as many as 15,000 attending the ceremony at a time when the City of Greencastle housed only 3,600 residents.

Reviews were positive of the new building by celebrated Indiana architect John W. Gaddis, but something was missing -- no clocks graced the gables atop the north and south faces of the courthouse.

For nearly 80 years it remained so, with ornamental windows filling the circular openings. Then in the early 1980s a clock was installed on the south wall, with a less-than-appealing vent placed in the north opening.

Finally in place, though, the clock kept time for only so long. Within a few years, the timepiece was falling behind and the chimes were no longer working.

This condition remained until 2004, when Stewart and Hecko took it upon themselves to repair the aging clock.

The work wasn't easy, including crossing a narrow catwalk (a long 2X8 piece of lumber) to access the clock and Stewart even having to crawl through a narrow opening between the six and eight in the face of the clock, only to replace lights on a ledge that's only two feet wide.

But fix the clock and chimes, they did, with the help of some spare parts including chimes purchased at a garage sale, an amplifier discarded by DePauw University and speakers off of an old fire truck.

The clock itself, while large in scope, is a fairly humble device, powered only by 120-volt wiring.

For 12 years, Hecko has spearheaded the effort to keep the clock and chimes running. The work includes resetting the clock after any power outage and adjusting each time the time changes. (Thanks, Mitch.)

With a clock that only moves forward, this means speeding up the works each March to "spring forward" and turning the clock off each November to "fall back."

In each case, Hecko has to be in contact with someone watching the clock hands from the courthouse lawn.

Hecko, a self-taught electronics expert, has set up quite a system. Unfortunately, it isn't a sustainable, especially for a man who, in the words of Stewart, "was a mere boy in his 60s when he started his clock master job" in 2004.

At that time, the approaching courthouse centennial celebration prompted the upgrades. Now the Indiana bicentennial is prompting the call for yet another facelift.

The upgrades would include two self-setting clocks with backlit faces, digital chimes and amps and a lithium battery backup for auto time correction.

The new clocks would not only improve the look and sound of the courthouse, it would limit the number of times anyone has to climb the 88 steps to care for the timepiece.