Westmoreland County chips in to repair Courthouse Square clock

Hickory dickory dock, Westmoreland County commissioners voted to fix the clock.

The clock got stuck at 1:10, and officials don't want it to stop again.

So on Thursday, county officials gave $2,000 to the Greensburg Rotary to fix the replica Victorian clock that sits in Courthouse Square along Main Street in Greensburg.

The nearly 30-year-old timepiece has been stuck for the better part of a year.

"It's right two times a day," quipped Commissioner Tom Balya.

Later this summer, officials expect it will be right all of the time.

Balya and Commissioner Tom Ceraso agreed to have the county pay one-third of the repair costs. Commissioner Charles Anderson, who serves as Rotary president, did not vote.

The City of Greensburg will kick in $2,000 and the Rotary will cover all remaining repair costs. Anderson said the project should cost about $6,000.

"It hasn't been right for a year. We thought we could put a Band-Aid on it, but it didn't work," Anderson said.

Greensburg Rotary Club members donated the clock in 1991.

The city is responsible for its maintenance, said Greensburg administrator Sue Trout.

The clock at one time contained a tape recorder that played songs in the courtyard, including Christmas carols. Hourly chimes that played from the clock were silenced years ago by county judges, who said the sound disrupted court proceedings.

Anderson said work on the clock repairs could start next week.