Clock tower may be sold on eBay

Story by Abby Fox / Aug. 20, 2001



Clock tower in Biddeford, Maine (Andrew Hemstrought) The owners of an 1854 mill in Biddeford, Maine, are threatening to lop off the buildings clock tower and sell it on eBay.

To save and restore the wooden, octagonal tower, residents of Biddeford, 15 miles north of Portland, started raising money last Thursday. Dave Boilard, president of Friends of the Clocktower, says his nonprofit group has mustered $20,000 of its $200,000 goal.

"Its our skyline," says Boilard. "Granted, its privately owned, but citizens have to stand up sometimes, voice their opinions, and try to make a difference."

Though the Lincoln Street Mill closed in 1969, it was the second-largest textile company in the country at the end of the 19th century. Biddeford, still a mill town, once clanged so pervasively with the daily opening of mills that it was nicknamed the City of Bells.

The buildings owners, Gordon McDonald and Michael Scott, who use the first floor as their mill company's office and rent space to other tenants, tried to sell the tower last fall on eBay for $8,000. When the auction closed without a single bidder, they agreed to donate the tower to Boilards group if the money for its restoration could be raised. Since Friends of the Clocktower hasnt produced the money, McDonald and Scott have secured a demolition permit to remove the tower and are again trying to find a buyer online.

"The owners have promised to sell this thing by the time the snow flies," says Mark Robinson, spokesman for the group.