The City of Quesnel will now be responsible for the maintenance of an iconic downtown corner piece.
At last week’s council meeting, the council approved that the City will provide the maintenance for the Rotary Club clock located in the downtown at Reid Street and St. Lauren Avenue.
Mayor Bob Simpson said that with the City in the process of a significant upgrade to the Spirit Centre, and the clock being an anchor point of the Spirit Square, it just made sense.
“It makes sense to us because the Spirit Centre has become a very significant place for both our community and for visitors,” he said. “That clock is a significant part of it, and it just makes sense to the council for that nominal cost that we just maintain the clock and make sure it looks great.”
Simpson said that council had been wanting to fix up the clock for a while.
“We approached the Rotary Club awhile back to look at the possibility of them refreshing the clock. It’s got some chipping of paint, and it needs a little bit of a facelift,” he said. “The Rotary Club, like most organizations, is going through a pretty difficult time with fundraising and their normal events, so they just approached us to take on the ongoing maintenance of the clock.”
The clock’s ongoing maintenance will be incorporated into the City’s maintenance budget, which Simpson added should only cost the City a couple of thousands of dollars every ten or so years.