Clock Homecoming
WGRZ Channel 2 News Buffalo
Robyn Young, Reporter
5/10/2005
It is 14 feet tall, made of cast iron, and makes people cry.
The beloved Central Terminal clock is back home in Buffalo, repaired and restored and in its original spot in the old train station.
“Too often we talk about all we have lost. Now we can start beginning to talk about those things we’re regaining,” said Russell Pawlak of the Central Terminal Restoration Corporation.
The clock was unveiled Tuesday morning before school children, senior citizens, and other Buffalonians. They burst into applause when the clock lights were turned on.
“I walked in today to celebrate the lighting of the clock, and tears just rolled down my eyes,” said Ann Peck, “because of memories way back during the war years, World War II, when my husband used to come on furlough to visit us during the holidays.”
The clock was a fixture in the train station from 1929 until it closed in the 1970′s. The clock was later sold in the 1990′s, and was discovered in a Chicago antiques store.
A public fund-raising effort organized by WBEN radio raised $14,000, and M & T Bank donated $25,000 so the clock could be purchased and repaired.
The clock will be on display this summer in the Central Terminal. The public will be able to see it during public events, as the terminal is still shut down. The clock will then be on display in different locations in Buffalo, starting with M & T Center on Main Street.
