Suspected vandalism of Ashburton clock tower

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from The Press

From local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:

Asburton’s iconic clock tower may have been the victim of vandalism – but identifying the culprits may take time.

Police have been alerted after a glass panel was smashed on Saturday night.

The Ashburton District Council said CCTV footage is being reviewed.
“Our security contractors have reviewed some footage, and can determine that the glass shattered on Saturday night, about 9pm,” council business support general manager Leanne Macdonald said.

“We have laid a complaint with police and investigations are continuing,”
As the glass was broken at night it may prove difficult to identify the offenders.

Ashburton police declined to comment on the incident.

The council will call in a clock engineer to check the workings as fragments of the shattered safety glass “were all over the place”, Macdonald said.

The glass was tidied on Wednesday by contractors who installed a temporary window until a replacement can be sourced.

“The glazier has ordered the glass and hopes to have it up by the end of next week.

The council has made an insurance claim to cover the repairs.
It is unclear how much the repairs will cost.

The council was unaware of any previous vandalism of the clock tower in at least the last decade.

The clock tower in Baring Square East originally started out in Ashburton's post office clock tower in 1904.

Following the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake and the 1942 Wairarapa earthquake, the tower was removed as ordered by central government and put into storage.

The clock was resurrected in the 1970s by the Ashburton Lions Club while the tower was designed by Warren and Mahoney Architects and built by Bradford Construction Ltd.

It was erected in Baring Square East and at 4pm on November 26, 1976, the clock and chimes sprung back into action as part of the Baring Square East revamp to commemorate 100 years of local government in the Ashburton County