Tick, tick, bloom: Guelph’s floral clock once again working

After 20 years of spotty timekeeping, the floral clock at Riverside Park is working again. CTV’s Ashley Bacon has more.

After two decades, a landmark in Guelph, Ont. is once again ticking away.

For the last 20 years, the floral clock on Riverside Park was unreliable at best, often falling behind or even standing still for long periods of time. Over the years, there have been several pushes to try to get the clock up to speed. Now, thanks to city staff, it is once again operational.

The clock, measuring 11.5 metres in diameter was first installed in Riverside Park in 1954. Since then, a variety of floral designs have been featured to celebrate everything from the city’s 175th anniversary to McCrae House and even the 175th year of the Guelph Curling Club.

However, over the years, the clock faced challenges.

“The clock was fatigued a little bit, the mechanisms are also dealing with a little bit of unintended vandalism,” Gene Matthews, Guelph’s city parks general manager, said. “People sitting on the clock hands, damaging the gearing, which over the years has been quite challenging.”

To make restoration work more difficult, some of the mechanisms were hand crafted.

“One guy, on the back of a napkin, figured out some handmade parts to make the original clock work,” Guelph Mayor Cam Guthrie told CTV News. “To attack this now as a new project, to get it all updated, upgraded, it was a big effort by staff.”

Those original designs appeared to be lost to time.

“Finding a detailed design from 70-years-ago [was] difficult, if not impossible,” Matthews said. “We really were, through a staff led project, almost starting new with the gearing and mechanisms and adding some modern touches to the clock as well.”

Matthews said the clock is now connected to the internet and will reset automatically.

The restoration effort coincides with the Guelph Horticultural Society’s 125th anniversary. The floral display at the clock has been designed to honour the organization’s commitment to horticulture.

The cost to restore the clock came in at approximately $80,000 including the design, engineering, specialized clock movement components and custom clock arms and balancing. It was funded from an existing budget for parks infrastructure replacement and upgrades.