THE historic Joseph Levi Memorial Clock could be restored to its former glory in Stoke Green park.
An ambitious Time to Bring the Clock Back campaign has been launched by residents to raise around £40,000 needed to repair the clock and return to it to its rightful home.
And they hope to reach their target in just one year’s time.
The iconic four-metre high clock was paid for by the founder of the Coventry Philanthropic Institution at a cost £650, and was put on the green at the junction of Stoke Green and Binley Road back in 1934.
But it had to be dismantled in 2012 due to health and safety concerns when work started on the play area’s £56,000 lottery-funded rejuvenation and was put in storage in Leicester by the city council.
Corrine Spencer, chairman of the Gosford Park Residents’ Association, told us the clock was never maintained well enough and eventually stopped when its mechanical movement was replaced with an electric one which became corroded.
But she said now was the time for it to be returned home to the park that is now named Dr Dave’s Tick Tock Park in memory of her late husband who led the bid for funding to reinstate a play area before his death two years ago.
“Residents in our area feel strongly that the clock should not be forgotten, but should be given the respect it deserves,” Mrs Spencer said.
“We’re in the very early stages of this, but I am hopeful we can get this done in a year.
“We raised £10,000 in nine months for the new slide at the playground after it opened so we know there is a lot of community support which is today’s world is a good thing to achieve.”
Mrs Spencer added: “The clock was there for 80 years and never really maintained as it should have been.
“The council said it would look after it perpetually, which means forever, but they never really did although we’re not expecting them to pay to restore it. As a community we want to raise as much as we can and apply for funding for the rest.”
Applications to grant-giving organisations are being prepared by the association in partnership with the Stoke Park Residents’ Group alongside a series of fund-raising events.
Fifty teams took part in the first, a treasure hunt around the park itself earlier this month, and the next is a quiz at The Humber pub on Friday, April 25.
To support the campaign click here www.facebook.com/pages/GPRA-Gosford-Park-Residents-Association/186666774750643.
Corrine Spencer, chairman of the Gosford Park Residents’ Association, is driving the Time to Bring the Clock Back campaign (s)
Workmen dismantle the clock two years ago before it was put into storage where it has remained ever since (s)
