Hollister
– In more than nine decades sitting atop Fourth and San Benito
streets, the famous double-clock tower and a Hollister symbol has
occasionally ticked to a halt.
Hollister – In more than nine decades sitting atop Fourth and San Benito streets, the famous double-clock tower and a Hollister symbol has occasionally ticked to a halt.
Bob Yant, who owns Enterprise Electric just down the street, keeps the clock running for the Free & Accepted Masons of San Benito County at no charge. Before Yant began servicing the clock, the City of Hollister was responsible for its upkeep.
“For years the city took care of the clock because it was their logo,” said Junior Bishop, the F&AM lodge secretary.
After new councils and staff took the reins of the city’s government, the agreement fell by the wayside, Bishop said. Although most city residents no longer rely on the clock for their time, some have noticed the hands have stopped.
“I don’t look at the clock but I know it’s broke,” said John Ament, while sitting in Johnny’s Bar and Grill on Friday afternoon.
When the hands of the west-facing clock stopped two months ago, the masons thought it was just an electrical problem, Bishop said. Upon further inspection, it became evident someone may have shot a projectile through the clock’s Plexiglas face, Bishop said.
Yant has ordered a new Plexiglas face for the clock and should be replacing it soon, Bishop said.
“What happened is the piece fell forward and caught the clock,” Bishop said. “They can set the time with a remote down at Enterprise (Electric).”
About 25 years ago, the clock’s large gears were replaced with a smaller, more efficient electrical system, Bishop said. Parts for the old clock were hard to find, Bishop said.
“It required constant maintenance,” Bishop said.
The F&AM has always tried to purchase anything the organization buys locally, Bishop noted. But Yant was unable to find a local vendor to supply the large Plexiglas face.
Besides getting the clock up and running, F&AM officials would like to refurbish its building in the next four years.
In 2011, San Benito County F&AM member William Bray III will become the head of the California F&AM.
“We’d like to get the building back in prime condition by 2011 so we can rededicate it,” Bishop said.
Well known Central Coast architect William H. Weeks designed the building, which was completed in 1908.
