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The hands of time are slowly returning to the Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower.

A construction crew from Maine today began installing new hands on the four faces of the historic clock tower at 21 S. Eutaw Street.

As of 2 p.m., the clock hands were back on the east clock face, but still missing from the other three faces. According to Megan Bosse of the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts, the client for the project, the contractors will keep working this week until all four clock faces have new hands.

The clock hands are being installed as part of a $1.9 million repair and restoration of the clock tower, one of the city’s best known landmarks. Built in 1911 as part of Captain Isaac Emerson’s Bromo Seltzer factory, the tower now houses artists’ studios.

The clock hands and clock were removed in October 2015 by Balzer Family Clock Works, a company from Maine that specializes in tower clock restorations.

Balzer, along with Azola Building Rehab of Baltimore, was hired to repair the Bromo clock and tower. The clock hadn’t worked properly since early 2014. The return of the clock hands is a sign that the repairs are nearly complete.

The Balzer team is working from inside the tower and on a “swing-stage” scaffold outside the building to install the new clock hands, which are black. Signs at the base of the tower say it will be closed to the public until April 29 while the restoration work is underway.

A formal rededication of the Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower will be held on Saturday, June 10.