The whirling, swinging and jiggling doodads dazzled people on Nicollet Mall for decades, drawing them to admire the Sculpture Clock that displayed both the time and a never-ending art show.
Once a popular downtown landmark, the 16-foot clock lost much of its luster in 2002 after costly upkeep forced the city to halt the kinetic sculpture's movement. Now a team of experts is bringing life to its corroded and rusted parts, restoring the only vestige of the original 1960s Nicollet Mall to have a place in the latest redesign.
"People love this thing," said Kristin Cheronis, who is leading the clock rehabilitation project. "Whenever we were working on it, people would kind of rush up to us and go, 'You're not getting rid of the clock, are you?' "
When repaired, the clock will return next year to its last location beside Peavey Plaza on 11th Street. That's down the street from the site where it debuted in 1968 outside the Young-Quinlan Building on 9th Street. The clock was moved in 1991.
Repairing the unique timepiece is no simple task. The sculpture is made up of more than 800 parts, including an array of objects attached to rods inside the clock's frame. Those include "hollow floats, star-shaped wheels, bouncy straps and springs, swinging spoon-shaped elements, mirrors and more," according to Cheronis.
"It operates 24/7. That's why it's so amazing that it operated for 30 years, really, when it's kind of a whirligig, handmade kind of an artwork," Cheronis said.
The Nicollet Mall Sculpture Clock was a spectacle when it debuted. The Minneapolis Tribune compiled photos of people staring at the clock the day after it was unveiled.
"That's exactly what would happen," said nearby resident Rosemarie McDonald, an ardent fan of the clock. "You'd be walking down the street and then all of a sudden you'd come upon the clock and you'd see people were watching this."