Three new clock faces made by Tise Woodwork and Design of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, for the Readfield Union Meeting House were delivered Friday to a Readfield storage facility.
After renovations to the meeting house’s tower are completed, the 8-foot-wide clock faces, adorned with golden Roman numerals, are to be installed, along with the recently repaired clock and the bell.
John Perry, treasurer of the Readfield Union Meeting House Co., said the nonprofit organization has raised about $200,000 to help with the goal of restoring the meeting house before its bicentennial in 2028.
The meeting house at 22 Church Road is the second-oldest brick church in Maine and has been listed since 1982 on the National Register of Historic Places. It is now being used to host events.
One of the most interesting features is the trompe l’oeil painting on the walls and ceiling. Trompe l’oeil is a a style of painting in which objects are given realistic detail. The painting in the meeting house was done by Portland artist Charles Schumacher.
The brick building was built in the 1820s and continued to be a religious meeting place into the 1900s, when individual denominations began to find dedicated homes and parishioners left the building.
Because parishioners, who originally formed the meeting house’s company, owned pews at the building and were responsible for repairs, the building reportedly began to fall into disrepair in the 1920s and 1930s.
Bub Bickford, left, and Tyler Spear of Integrity Movers of Scarborough roll one of the new clock faces out of a truck Friday at a storage building in Readfield.
A truck carrying the three new clock faces backs past the Readfield Union Meeting House bell Friday at a storage building in Readfield. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
Workers from Integrity Movers of Scarborough and board members from the Readfield Union Meeting House Co. roll one of the new clock faces out of a truck Friday at a storage building in Readfield. The new clock faces, made by Tise Woodwork and Design of Portsmouth, N.H., are to remain in storage until the meeting house’s tower is renovated.
Workers from Integrity Movers of Scarborough and board members from the Readfield Union Meeting House Co. roll one of the new clock faces out of a truck Friday at a storage building in Readfield. The new clock faces, made by Tise Woodwork and Design of Portsmouth, N.H., are to remain in storage until the meeting house’s tower is renovated.
Tyler Spear, center, of Integrity Movers of Scarborough pulls a padded blanket from one of the three new clock faces being delivered Friday to a storage building in Readfield. The clock faces were made by Tise Woodwork and Design of Portsmouth, N.H.
Golden Roman numerals glisten on one of the new clock faces Friday at a Readfield storage building.
This July 2017 photograph shows people eating strawberry shortcake and other desserts on the front lawn of the Readfield Union Meeting House at 22 Church Road. Three new clock faces are to be installed on the bell tower after it is renovated.
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