The historic 13-foot clock by the former home of the Orlando Sentinel in downtown Orlando was destroyed in a car crash early in the morning of Monday, August 16.
Just after 6 a.m. Monday morning, a car swerved off the road and crashed into a palm tree and the clock, and succeeded in knocking it to the ground, in several pieces.
The ornate clock was installed in front of the former Turner Evans Jewelry Co. shop in downtown Orlando in 1903 before eventually being moved to its current home at the Orlando Sentinel in 1951, then known as The Sentinel-Star, at 633 N. Orange Avenue [GMap].
The clock is known to have only stopped twice for repairs since that time, once in 1965 and another time in 1975.
When the building was vacated by Orlando Sentinel in 2020, the Orange County Regional History Center approached the paper to see if they could acquire the clock for their collection, but according to the History Center’s director, they could never quite seem to figure out what permissions were needed to have it removed.
The pieces have been recovered by the City of Orlando and will be stored until officials can ascertain whether it can be saved.
There has been no report on the status of the driver.
That clock is so cool. I hope they are able to save it. The History Center would be a great place for it.
I called the Orange County Regional History Center center yesterday morning and they said they had contacted the curators to see what could be done about the remaining clock pieces. It would be a great story to hear that the clock was restored and moved to them museum.
Obviously disappointed that it wasn’t moved before this happen, but guess that’s Murphy’s Law for ya.