Rumors have been swirling around campus since the mysterious red obelisk located between the Casey and Garrand buildings on upper campus appeared last year. A few weeks ago, the gossip was finally extinguished after it was revealed that the obelisk was serving as a placeholder for a new piece of artwork—a gilded vintage street clock.
Built over a hundred years ago, Seattle University’s recently obtained clock was one of many street clocks installed around the Seattle area, with this one in particular previously standing in front of a jewelry store at the corner of First and Union in downtown Seattle.
In the 1950s, street clocks decreased in popularity, and this clock was put into storage. In 1989, the clock was sold to the owner of F.X. McRory’s, a restaurant in Pioneer Square and what the clock is named after, where it was situated for nearly thirty years.
After the restaurant closed three years ago, owner Mick McHugh, a Seattle U alumnus who graduated in 1965, generously donated it to the university. Since then, the clock has been in storage at Seattle U, before being mended by a clock repairman hired by the university. Standing tall at 20 feet and weighing nearly 1.5 tons, the clock was quite a feat to repair and install on Seattle U’s campus…