Monday, May 14th

The materials arrived last week for the trim, and so major progress is underway once again!  The tower itself is now framed, sheathed and wrapped in tar paper, and the roof is finished, so now it just needs siding.  And a clock, of course!  The eaves are being trimmed out in reclaimed barnwood planks which are much wider than the original trim; the difference is pretty incredible.  The wider planks lend a solid, substantial look to the roof lines, giving the building some age and some "heft" that it didn't have before.

The shutters, windows and remaining trim details will be repainted in a soon-to-be-determined color; local painter and handyman George Wilcoxen is getting a head start on the prep work - scraping, patching and priming the various pieces so he can start painting as soon as the paint is chosen.

Wednesday, May 9th

The new sidewalk was poured today!

Monday, May 7th

Not a ton of progress on the tower itself just now - the guys are waiting for materials.  However, a related project has begun - the old broken section of sidewalk in front of the building is going to be replaced, and it was torn out today.

Friday Afternoon

This blog may just turn out to be a photo essay...  Here are two shots showing the progress - as of 5pm the clock tower addition was almost fully framed in, and they've even got the framing for the roof started.  If the guys keep going at this pace, they'll be done with all of the construction before the clock arrives!  The clock itself is being programmed with the song list, and should be on its way to Bigfork very soon.

Construction Begins!

The crew from Mountain High Construction started in earnest today!  The first thing that happened was the removal of the two windows from the second story on the west side of the building.  Here's a view from inside the Bigfork Museum of Art and History with the windows gone:

By the end of the day, Matt, Sean and Dave had the window openings boarded up and the framing for the clock tower started.  Nice job, guys!

Tuesday, May 2, 2012 - Before

We thought maybe construction would commence today, so I went out first thing in the  morning and took a few "before" pictures of the building.  Here's the best one:

Ongoing Fundraising Efforts

Thanks to the generosity of Bigfork's fine residents, fundraising for the clock tower is off to a great start, and we're already nearly halfway there.  For those folks who weren't able to attend the fundraiser at Mosaic last week, we have two ongoing means for you to contribute to the Clock Tower Project.

First, you can purchase a Bigfork clock of your own.  The wall clock pictured below is 13 inches in diameter, and you can order one just as it appears, or you can customize it with up to three lines of text.  The cost is $150.00.

How about purchasing a song that is special to you or a loved one?  For $50, you can select a song from the list below to play on a date that is important to you; this is a perfect way to celebrate an anniversary, a birthday or even that perfect first date!  You can get a "three-pack" of songs - three different songs or three dates for one song to play - for $100, or you may purchase an "eternity" song for $500 - for this, your song will play each year at a given time on a given date for the life of the clock tower!  (We expect the clock tower to be anchoring Bigfork Village for the next century or two, just so you know...)  Here's the list:

To purchase a Bigfork clock or a song, please contact the Bigfork Area Chamber of Commerce at (406) 837-5888 or chamber@bigfork.org.  Thank you!