Time is about to run out on Central Terminal clock 11/15/1999
Business First of Buffalo, Nov 15, 1999
Time is about to run out on Central Terminal clock
Annemarie Franczyk
Business First
A piece of Buffalo’s railway history is on the block.
The pedestal clock that once was the focal point of the concourse of Buffalo’s old New York Central Terminal is being auctioned on the Internet by its owner in Chicago. Opening bid: $10,000.
There has been plenty of interest from the Buffalo area but no bidders since the clock was posted on the eBay auction Web site Nov. 3, said John Hardisty, vice president of Go2Sell LLC, the suburban Chicago antiques broker handling the sale for the owner. The auction was expected to close Nov. 13.
“I’ve received at least a dozen or so e-mails about it. Some people wanted to know where it will go. Some gave me some history about the clock. A couple of them wanted to know if we would donate it,” Hardisty said.
The cast iron clock was among interior appointments stripped from the terminal and sold in the mid-1990s when the building was in the hands of a private owner. The 13-foot pedestal topped by four lighted clock faces was damaged by vandals and neglect but it was restored to visual accuracy and full function, Hardisty said.
He declined to name his client who is selling the piece.
The nonprofit Central Terminal Restoration Corp. Inc. now owns the landmark on the city’s East Side and is attempting to restore the building to its original form. The effort soon will include a national recall of items that once graced the 70-year-old station, said Thomas Hryvniak, a member of the restoration group’s board of directors.
In the meantime, the group wants the pedestal clock to fall into the right hands.
“We’re hoping a major corporation or philanthropic sponsor will purchase the clock and put it back in the building it belongs in,” Hryvniak said during the seventh day of the auction.
“The elements of that public space belong to the public.”
