Every day when John Bartlett is on his way to work, he purposefully drives down University Avenue to check the time.

Bartlett, an electronic technician, and other members of Syracuse University Physical Plant, are in charge of keeping the Hall of Languages main tower’s clock in running order. This includes setting the clock back in the fall as a part of daylight saving time.

“Me personally and the guys in my shop, we are so cued when we drive on this road,” Bartlett said. “I am always looking up. I live 20 minutes away. When I come up, I purposefully come up University Avenue, so I can make sure the clock is on time. It’s just a habit that I have.”

In order to access the main tower of Hall of Languages, where the clock is controlled, Bartlett has to unlock a door on the right side of Hall of Languages Kilian Room. The door leads directly to a steep, metal staircase into a large wood-paneled room.

 

A metal ladder extends from the main platform to a raised one that is directly behind the clock in the tower. There are no elaborate gears or mechanisms controlling the clock, just a skinny metal shaft that leads to a small, motorized controller. The piece is pulsed every 60 seconds to advance the clock.

To change the time, Bartlett goes to an electronic programmable box that allows him to set when the clock should switch over. The program automatically registers the information, and on Nov. 1, it switched over by itself.

In the late 1970s, the Hall of Languages went through a $4 million renovation that gutted much of the inside, while leaving the outside’s historic architecture intact. The clock’s old internal mechanism was removed and replaced by the current electronic device. During the renovation, the clock was out of service.

 

“It used to be an elaborate piece of equipment, well before I was even here,” Bartlett said. “I am sure back then, there was someone that had to go up there and wind this mechanism up and I am not sure how often it had to be done, but you can see the gears in that piece which is shown in the Hall of Languages Room 500.”

The Hall of Languages was the first building on campus; construction began in 1871 and was completed in 1873 without the middle tower. The clock was added as a gift of the class of 1875 and was installed in 1886, according to SU Archives.

 

The clock has gone through several changes over the last century. According to a 1953 Daily Orange article, the clock originally was run by weights and a pendulum similar to a grandfather clock, but because of its size, it also had to be cranked by a cable and winch.

In 1908, it was switched over to a wet cell or “hot battery” operated system, which acts like a rechargeable battery and is filled with liquid. In 1949, an IBM electrical mechanism was installed, which is now on display in the Kilian Room. Finally, in 1979, it was switched over to its current electronic mechanism created by the Elderhorst Bells Company.

 

Bartlett expects that within the next year, they will have to switch it out again to a more modern device. He said it may connect to a cell phone or a network where they could manage the time every day without climbing the stairs, which would help get rid of the few minutes of play that keep the clock from being 100 percent accurate.

“It is not precise to the minute, and I think everyone knows that. Plus no one really looks up at it,” he said. “Everyone nowadays is on their cell phone — the more precise piece — which is sad in a way, but understandable.”

Published on November 1, 2015 at 8:55 pm

Contact Jacob: jagedets@syr.edu