It was a landmark for 60 years, hard for any passing downtown motorist or pedestrian to miss.
The massive, four-faced clock sat atop a pedestal, 12 feet above the sidewalk, outside 760 Cumberland St., for many years home of Lebanon’s First National Bank, later Dauphin Deposit Bank, and more recently a bail bond agency.
Readers have noticed that the clock, inoperative for over a decade, has disappeared.
What happened to the bank clock? Why? Where did it go?
Lebanon Mayor Sherry Capello has some, but not all of the answers. But first, some history.
The now-missing clock was actually the third privately owned clock to sit on a public right-of-way in front of the old bank building.
According to a Nov. 21, 1963, Lebanon Daily News story archived on newspapers.com, a clock first stood on the spot in 1914. For reasons unknown, it was replaced in 1937 with a second clock that stood until Aug. 25, 1963, when it was struck and demolished by a truck.
That led First National Bank to order a third clock from the Peco-McClintock Corp. of Minnesota. It was installed less than three months later, on Nov. 20, 1963. The Daily News reported that the new clock “is identical to the former clock, with the exception of a more modern face,” and that “Paul J. Kohr, vice president and cashier at the bank, reported that the clock will be equipped with Big Ben Chimes.”
What happened to the clock?
According to county assessment records, the old bank building has been owned by Delgiorno Investments of Lancaster since last April. Before then, it was owned since 2006 by Jesse W. Hill. Hill is listed as Delgiorno’s “contact” on assessment records.
Capello said the clock was removed by the contractor replacing downtown sidewalks as part of the city’s streetscaping project, after several unsuccessful attempts to contact Jesse Hill. She added that the Community of Lebanon Association had for several years unsuccessfully attempted to work with Hill to refurbish the clock, and had even set aside money for repairs.
In an email to LebTown, Capello said “[f]ast forward to the streetscape project, the Hills were invited to public meetings and never attended. We sent out a total of 7 letters to them between 8/1/22 and 5/23/23 regarding the project and asking them what their intentions were concerning the clock. We told them that the clock was located within a public right-of-way and that if it was not going to be repaired then they needed to remove it. We provided a deadline of April 1st of 2023.”
Capello continued, “We also called them and the contractor reached out to them and told them what would happen if the clock was not removed. … Finally in August of 2023, the clock was removed. The clock structure was so rotted/dilapidated that it basically fell apart in the contractor’s hands. There were no internal mechanicals so someone must have removed them previously.”
“So … to make a long story short (lol), the clock had deteriorated to a point of not being able to be repaired plus it was missing it’s ‘guts’. It was not owned by the city nor did the city install it initially,” she said.
Capello thinks that whatever remained of the clock was scrapped by the streetscape contractor.
New owner? Another clock possible?
Local real estate investor Noah Starry told LebTown last week that he is in the process of purchasing an interest in the property along with Delgiorno Investments partner Nico Delgiorno. Starry says he has plans to develop the building and possibly erect another clock, although he has no concrete plans for a new sidewalk timepiece.
“In the long-term play of my vision, I would love to be able to put a clock back there,” said Starry, who grew up in the city and still lives on the north side. “I don’t know how feasible it would be, I’d have to talk to the city.”
“I’m not saying it’s going to happen immediately, because of budgets and costs,” Starry said, “but if I could have a clock back there, the four faces, I’d love that. It would be great for downtown Lebanon.”
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