Moses Lake clock likely to stay in place

MOSES LAKE - It looks like the clock at the intersection of Third Avenue and Ash Street in downtown Moses Lake will probably stay put.

For several weeks Moses Lake City Council members have been weighing whether to move the clock to make it the centerpiece of a new roundabout planned for Balsam Street in front of the new Moses Lake Civic Center.

The idea was likely quashed for good when Moses Lake Mayor Jon Lane invited several downtown business interests and the Moses Lake Rotary Club to discuss the future of the clock, which the Rotary Club donated to the city in 2000.

Lane told the group of about ten people that while a final decision would be up to city council, he sees the clock as something special that could accent the entrance to the city's newest facility.

"It would be an appropriate and significant location for it but if downtown people want it to remain where it is, that's fine too," he said.

Lane mentioned the high number of negative comments received from the business community and the public when the clock was first installed at its current location in the center of a small roundabout. At the time, detractors said it would slow traffic and prevent the passage of parade floats and larger vehicles.

Now the clock seems to have become an accepted and even cherished part of downtown.

"I think the majority of Rotarians would like to keep (the clock) in the downtown core," said incoming Rotary president Richard Hanover. "Rotary's original idea when they donated it was that it was for the town and they wanted it to be put in the center of town."

"The board was unanimous in wanting it to stay," said Moses Lake Business Association Executive Director Marianne Bondi.

She said despite the predictions of naysayers the clock has proven to be no nuisance at all and is much preferable to a stop light at the intersection. Many business owners have also told her they use it as a location marker for giving customers directions.

"A lot of the people I talked to said we didn't think we wanted it there but we like it there now."

While the Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce has not had a board meeting to get an official consensus on the clock, chamber executive director Debbie Doran-Martinez said a poll of about 45 members said it should stay put.

"I think this has been a healthy discussion because people now realize they like the clock." said Rotarian Harlan Beagley, publisher of the Columbia Basin Herald. "It's about identity. Downtown, Sinkiuse Square - the identity of that whole area now is wrapped up in that clock."

The people present offered some alternative ideas for what could be installed at the city's new roundabout, to be located where Fourth Avenue intersects with Balsam Street. A statue of Chief Moses was mentioned, as was a monument to the area's farming ties, but the most popular suggestion seemed to hinge on making the centerpiece a water feature.

Lane said that discussion will be brought to council for consideration over the next several weeks, but there would probably be no reason to put the clock move on the agenda.

"I think we have a pretty good idea of how people feel," Lane said.