BIDDEFORD — The deadline to relocate the deposed Lincoln Mill clock tower has come and gone, with area preservationists asking for more time to save the structure.
For 150 years, the Lincoln Mill clock tower was a fixture of the Biddeford skyline. The bell that hung in the tower had once rung several times a day, signaling workers to take their place on production lines. About seven years ago, it was unceremoniously removed from its perch atop the mill, after the building changed hands and a legal attempt to keep the tower atop the mill building failed. Valuable parts, including the several thousand pound bell and the weathervane, were stripped off and sold.
Since then, the clock tower has sat on the ground next to the mill, in full view of those who travel Lincoln Street, and deteriorated. Many call it an eyesore and want it removed.
Several groups are working together to ensure that this piece of the city’s historic past is not destroyed, and remains in Biddeford. The latest missed deadline is one in a series of maneuvers to preserve the tower.
In December 2013, the owners of Odyssey Properties, LLC were ready to take a chainsaw to it after citations by the city’s Code Enforcement Office and legal sanctions to remove the tower.
But at the 11th hour, a number of parties worked together to save the clock tower ”“ at least for a short time.
Industrial architect George Collard, Scott Joslin of the Pepperell Mill Campus in Biddeford, the principals of Odyssey Properties and Mayor Alan Casavant worked out a deal for Odyssey to sell the clock tower to Collard and Joslin for $1.
At the time, Odyssey Properties Principal Greg Bennett said he was “absolutely” pleased that the clock tower would be saved, and that litigation between the city and Odyssey has been resolved.
Collard was to work over the winter weatherizing the structure to prevent further deterioration, and some of that work has been completed. A deadline of May 17 was agreed upon to move the clock tower from its current location.
Although the deadline has come and gone, those interested in preserving the clock tower are looking for more time. Since progress is being made, Casavant said he wants to give the group more time and see if the structure can be saved.
“A large group of people feel it’s significant and should be saved,” he said.
As a historian who taught history at Biddeford High School for 35 years, said Casavant, he wants to preserve symbols of the city’s past.
“To attract people to live, work and play,” he said, the city has to appeal to people through its uniqueness, like its history and architecture.
“If we have a shot” at saving the tower, “we should take it,” said Casavant. “What harm is there in giving these people a little more time.”
Among others interested in saving the Lincoln Mill clock tower are members of the Biddeford Mills Museum and Biddeford High School students. Several high school students and recent alumni will make a presentation about its importance to the city council on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at City Hall.
“It’s a symbol of community pride. It’s kind of an icon,” said BHS student Alex Morneau, who together with her classmate Katie Eccleston made a video about the clock tower.
The video can be viewed at the Internet crowdfunding website www.indiegogo.com/projects/save-the-lincoln-mill-clock-tower.
Through the website, people can also donate to help save the clock tower. A goal of $35,000 has been set. Funds will be used to relocate the structure, which includes reinforcing it for the move, moving costs, addressing electrical wires, permitting fees and traffic control.
If funds are raised to move the structure, probably to a temporary location at the Pepperell Mill Campus, said Joslin, then another fundraising effort will take place to come up with the costs to restore the clock tower.
If all this work is completed, he said, the clock tower will probably be donated to the city and be placed at one of the downtown parks.
— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 324 or dmendros@journaltribune.com.
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