DOVER-FOXCROFT (AP) – A three-faced clock in the Dover-Foxcroft Congregational Church, believed to be more than 150 years old, is feeling its age.

Last week, selectmen received a hefty repair cost estimate – nearly $18,000.

“I’m aware that we’ve maintained the clock over the years,” Dover-Foxcroft Town Manager Jack Clukey said.

According to local history books, the clock was constructed at the time the present church was built in 1851.

Old-timers, according to the Bangor Daily News, say the Pine Street side of the clock has no face because residents on that side of town did not support the installation of the clock in the first place.

Clukey characterized the clock as a part of Dover-Foxcroft’s history and said town officials hope to find a way to make the repairs.

A letter from Peter Rioux Clock Service of Winterport advised town officials that the escape wheel in the clock is broken and said the whole mechanism is very dirty and had been lubricated in the wrong places.

Rioux said the strike function of the old clock has been discontinued and three sets of motion work driving the hands need adjustment and lubrication.

Rioux offered to overhaul the entire clock mechanism for $17,800.

Other options could include overhauling the time side and rebuilding the escape wheel at a cost of $4,900, or overhauling the time side and installing an electric drive motor at a cost of $6,750.

Clukey is expected to report back to the selectmen after doing more research.

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Information from: Bangor Daily News, http://www.bangornews.com

AP-ES-09-03-06 0923EDT

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