Helen Reaggle was late Wednesday for a meeting with her sister under the landmark Kaufmann's clock.

She could tell because the 103-year-old clock Downtown is once again marking time.

“I'm here, but I don't know where she is,” said Reaggle, 60, of Trafford.

Core Realty of Philadelphia, which owns the former Kaufmann's Department Store building, switched off power to the clock because of an electrical problem, Pittsburgh Councilman Corey O'Connor said. The Tribune-Review reported Wednesday that the clock had stopped.

Core called O'Connor about noon Wednesday to say that the clock again was ticking.

“It's a good company to work with when you can make one phone call and the problem's fixed,” O'Connor said.

This week, an executive at Huntington Bank tipped off O'Connor about the clock and offered financial assistance to get it running.

The clock at Smithfield Street and Fifth Avenue has been a meeting place for generations of Pittsburghers, including Reaggle.

“This clock is famous,” she said. “My aunt lived in Mt. Washington when I was young, and she'd meet me under this clock and take me up in the incline to her house.”

Macy's, which owned the former Kaufmann's building, closed and sold the building last year to Core for $15 million. Core plans to convert it into a hotel, condominiums and stores.

Bob Bauder is a Tribune-Review staff writer.

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