The 93-year-old, four-faced clock can be seen from all points of the compass around Prince Albert. (Glenn Hicks/paNOW Staff)

By Glenn Hicks

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It looks out in every direction of the city as both an iconic symbol of early 20th century workmanship and a valuable public asset for the ever-present. The four-faced clock on Prince Albert’s Court of Queen’s Bench has been telling us the time since construction on the building was completed on the hill in 1927.

However, the 93-year-old timepiece can get a little cranky on occasion (who doesn’t?) and in recent weeks the north-facing side just wasn’t keeping up with the times. It had fallen out of sync with its south, east and westerly siblings.

That’s where Al Butt comes into the picture. This week paNOW’s Glenn Hicks took a look at what he does to keep things ticking along.

Butt calls himself a “general clock repairman”, but the 74-year-old knows every tick and tock of the business and is sent out by the province whenever one of the chronometers on their landmark buildings needs a hand … or should that be hour, minute or second hand?

Al Butt checks over the power and timekeeping gears of the clock at the top of the Court of Queen’s Bench building. (Glenn Hicks/paNOW Staff)

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I followed Al and his leather bag of tools into the upper reaches of the court house. We clambered up and around the maze of wooden steps and gantries that lead to a steep staircase and the main clock area. But there’s still a final vertical set of slats that need to be navigated to gain access to the tiny two-metre by two-metre clock tower. Al makes the ascent like he’s done this before…many times. I’m a little slower and deliberate. What I discover when I squeeze into the tight but cozy space is a simple yet ornate moving mass of machinery that is an extraordinary throwback to a time long before battery clocks and cell phones were on anyone’s dial.

“I’ve been at this pretty much all my life,” Butt said, reaching into his bag for nothing more than a wrench. No fancy electronic devices or computers needed here. “My dad was in the jewelry business in Tisdale when I was a year old so I just grew up in it and here I am 74 years later still doing it.”

Al Butt isn’t the only guy who’s ventured to the top of the Court of Queen’s Bench. Up until 1966 when Saskatchewan changed time twice a year someone had to be daring. (Bill Smiley Archives/P.A.Historical Society/P.A.Daily Herald)

Al, who first fully serviced this E. Howard & Co. clock back in 2013, walked me through the apparatus as he checked over the cogs, timekeeping gears and turn wheels connected to the green metal frame. The spindles stretch to the four compass points that poke through the siding to the clock faces outside.

Al looks down from the tiny clock tower. The pendulum and cable that holds the main weight are visible. (Glenn Hicks/paNOW Staff)

“As much as it’s simple it has to work right,” he said, as he pointed to the big metal weight hanging a full storey below which is key to driving the whole system. “The weight down there is 240-pounds and is driving through four power gears before it’s reduced to just eight ounces onto the escape wheel up here which turns the spindles that move the clock hands.” A relatively recent addition to the historic contraption is a long chain that falls parallel to the big weight to the floor, which allows for it to be wound on a weekly basis.

The newly-built court house in 1927 with it’s shiny new clock that was manufactured in Boston, Mass. the year before.(Bill Smiley Archives/P.A. Historical Society/P.A.Daily Herald)

In our modern world of silent timekeeping it’s fascinating to be exposed to how things used to be. Old clocks are loud. There’s a constant metallic ‘tock’ and lighter ‘tick’ as the hand-crafted wooden and brass pendulum keeps everything in proper momentum, regulating the release of the heavy weight with each tooth of the cog, second-by-second. The pendulum reveals a lot about the device.

Plenty of steps. Al Butt disappears into the main clock chamber with the big weight dangling from the apparatus. The modern chain for winding is visible. Gravity gives the clock it’s power. No batteries or electronics up here. (Glenn Hicks/paNOW Staff)

“That’s how I found out about this specific model when I first worked on this clock six years ago,” Al said. “I phoned a guy in New York and he asked me to describe the style of the pendulum and he was able to figure out what year it was.” The American expert was then able to talk him through some of the process around the overhaul. Al made a handful of trips to P.A. before he had the entire mechanism repaired and put back together.

The best view in town is from the clock tower of the Court of Queen’s Bench. (Glenn Hicks/paNOW Staff)

As Al was performing his tweaks and twists of various bolts and connectors there was another local player watching on. Suzanne Goota was our chaperone and she’s the operator of the court building. One of her responsibilities is the regular winding of the clock and to oil the gears a few times a year. She too had no problems scrambling around the roof stairwells and climbing into the tight tower.

Suzanne Goota is the operator of the Court of Queen’s Bench building. She winds and oils the gears of the old clock as part of her responsibilties. (Glenn Hicks/paNOW Staff)

“Oh, it’s just a thrill to work in this building, to meet all the people and to be part of the heritage here,” she said.

Before we left Al and his tight working space I asked him what makes him tick. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist the word choice there.)

“As time goes by there’s less and less people doing this type of work. Over the years I’ve been confronted by jobs that others couldn’t do, so there’s a lot of self-satisfaction to have someone happy that I’ve given them the results they were looking for.”

So, next time you’re driving up or down Central Avenue, take a glance at the court house and give a little nod to the past and to Al Butt, because they don’t make them like they used to.

glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow