Clockwork Orange County

SANTA ANA —  Time stands still at the William H. Spurgeon Building, but not for long.

In bygone days, the four-story landmark was Santa Ana’s community timepiece. Downtowners could look up at the smog-free sky and check their pocket watches against the building’s stately clock.

Then, roughly 20 years ago, the clock stopped, a sad state of affairs that ends today at 3 p.m. with a gala dedication ceremony.

Thanks to a $50,000, three-week restoration involving more than 100 businesses and individuals, the giant redwood hands will move again. “We’ve all come together for one project, and it’s the pride of the city,” said Bob Leavitt, a businessman who donated labor and money to the project, which was sponsored by the Santa Ana Historical Preservation Society, the Orange County chapter of the National Assn. of Watch and Clock Collectors and the Downtown Santa Ana Business Assn.

Though the four-faced clock has been given a new motor, Leavitt said the 83-year-old gears have been preserved, as have most of the hands.

No one seems sure when the clock at 206 W. 4th St. stopped running. “A lot of people think it was the shaker in ‘33,” said Don Krotee, an architect who helped with the project. In any event, time now marches on.