The time has arrived: Bloomington's clock tower comes down

It was the beginning of the end last week in Bloomington, as removal of the city’s clock tower at the intersection of 98th Street and Lyndale Avenue began.

It took a week of preparation to remove the four-sided clock atop the tower, approximately 38 feet above the intersection.

Age and the elements took their toll on the tower, which the city deemed too expensive to repair and maintain.

The tower dates back to 1990 and was a donation to the city. It had been cared for by the city’s maintenance department, and in recent years the steel interior of the brick tower has deteriorated. Water that infiltrated the structure, combined with the seasonal freezing and thawing, deformed the steel interior to a point where removal made more sense than attempts to repair the structure and replace the clock mechanism atop it, according to Tim Behrendt, the city’s maintenance superintendent.

The tower is on property that is adjacent to, and part of, the Oxboro Medical Building parking lot, and therefore is not owned by the city. There’s interest in placing a new landmark at the corner, and a community engagement process will help determine the future, Behrendt noted in discussing the tower’s planned removal earlier this year.

There’s interest in establishing a new landmark, but the location warrants some restraint, according to Mayor Tim Busse. “How much of an investment do we want to put into something we don’t have control of long term?” he asked.

Information about the tower is available online at tinyurl.com/btower26.