By Wendy Mitchell

The community's Rotary Club offered to spearhead an effort to get the clock faces on Augusta Independent School tower working again, and AIS officials have approved the plan.

Work began this spring on emergency physical repair of the clock tower, school entry way and balcony, said AIS Superintendent Lisa McCane.

“With the stability of the tower assured, we are very pleased that the Augusta Rotary Club will lead a community effort to repair the clock as well,” she said.

The clock has not functioned for many years, officials said.

Rotary Club member and Clopay engineer Tom Burke is leading the project effort, with current plans to leave the current mechanical components of the clock in place, but install an automatic clock controller to power separate motors to the hands on each clock face.

“The old clock mechanism is a marvel of pulleys, gears and shafts, but newer technology should make it more reliable”, Burke said.

Installation of the equipment will be a volunteer effort by Burke and members of the Augusta Rotary Club, but the components will need to be purchased at an estimated cost of over $7,000, officials said.

Parts have been ordered and should arrive in a couple weeks, said Rotary Club President Tay Kelsch.

"Tom (Burke) is optimistic the project can get done over the summer," Kelsch said.

AIS has been the focus of past Augusta Rotary Club projects, which have been a benefit to the community, with graduate scholarships and a 20 year relationship of providing and maintaining the musical carillon also is housed in the school tower.

“We hope to link the restored clock with the carillon so that the bells sound on the hour,” Burke said.

According to Kelsch, the Augusta Rotary Club recently has formed the Augusta Rotary Foundation as a 501c3 non-profit charitable association to accept tax-deductible donations to help fund its civic good works.

Other area civic agencies are encouraged to participate in donations for the clock.

Tax-free donations for the school clock project may be sent to the Augusta Rotary Foundation, P.O. Box 4, Augusta, Ky. 41002.