Historic Clock Project Seeks Donations

By Michael Flamang

The First Church in Belmont Unitarian Universalist is seeking funds and a qualified contractor to restore the historic clock in the church’s tower on the town green to functioning condition. In December, the Community Preservation Committee approved a grant application for the repair funds and included it in the projects to be considered by Town Meeting. (See “CPC Recommends Funds for Seven Projects,”  in this issue.​​)

There is a great deal of precedent in our area for cities and towns successfully using Commonwealth-designated Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds to implement this type of project in religious buildings. Some examples are:

In Cambridge, the CPA funds are administered in part by the Cambridge Historical Commission. Annually, the Commission distributes about $600,000 to nonprofit institutions and affordable housing projects in the city. The city’s list of preservation grants to institutions numbers 157 projects to date, and 94 are religious structures. The Massachusetts Historical Commission (using National Park Service funds) has participated in some of these projects along with the city. Cambridge supports these projects which contribute to the public good.

In Newton, $1.43 million in CPA funds have been combined with funds from the National Fund for Sacred Spaces and private fundraising to restore the bell tower structure and bell of the Grace Episcopal Church in Newton Center. 

Concord granted $75,000 from CPA funds in 2020 to the First Parish in Concord to restore the church’s historic belfry and clock. The project included painting the belfry, repairing and gilding the dome, and restoring the four clock faces and the weathervane. 

The clock in the tower of the First Church in Belmont was purchased by Town Meeting in 1889. Since that date, the church has housed the town clock. The clock must be wound manually every seven days. Every year, the town paid a stipend to the winder of the clock, usually the sexton of the church. In 1890, the annual stipend was $36. The amount was raised over the years. By the 1990s, it had been raised to $160 per year. 

Since its installation, the clock has required only minor repairs. Around 1990, the clock movement needed service. Town resident Martin Cohen, a long-time Town Meeting member, activist, and amateur horologist, as a volunteer disassembled the movement and carried all the parts outside to the town green. He spread a cloth on the grass and laid out every part on the cloth. He cleaned and lubricated the parts. Then he carried the parts back up into the tower, reassembled them, and started the clock. Cohen also served as the clock winder for many years. [Cohen, now 94 and living in assisted living in Cambridge, is still puttering with watches and repairing mechanical items for his fellow residents – Ed.]

Another notable clock winder was David Reid, who was also sexton of the church in the early 1950s. At that time, the annual stipend from the town was $50. Gerald Johnson followed Reid. Gerald’s son Jerry now cares for the historic church and the clocks in the steeple on the Billerica town green. Billerica used CPA funds to restore that historic steeple following a fire.

In December 2020, First Church spent $6,000 to have a carpenter construct a new ladder with handrails and an intermediate landing to access the movement in the tower.

The FY2023 project cost for renovating the clock is estimated to be $29,000. A successful application from a nongovernment applicant involves having the private applicant raising at least 10% of the project cost or $2,900. 

Neighbors and friends who wish to support the effort to fix this historic clock can send donations to the administrator of the First Church in Belmont UU, 404 Concord Ave, Belmont 02478. Checks can be made out to the First Church in Belmont UU with a note on the memo line to direct the funds to the “Friends of the Historic Clock.” 

Michael Flamang is co-chair of the Property Care Committee of the First Church in Belmont Unitarian Universalist.