PORT TOWNSEND — U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks on Monday brought word of a $100,000 federal grant to help repair the weakened clock tower in the Jefferson County Courthouse and a promise to help find more funding.
“We’ll do our part,” Dicks said after climbing the stairs to the tower room holding the clock works nearly 110 feet above the ground.
County officials have been trying to pin down $3.5 million needed to repair the tower so it’s safe in high winds since a structural defect in the masonry was discovered in the late 1990s.
In addition to being vulnerable to high winds, the tower is also at risk during an earthquake, according to Public Works Director Frank Gifford.
Engineers have predicted the clock tower might fail in sustained winds of 80 mph or more, and the county has instituted a monitoring and evacuation plan should winds reach those speeds.
Some neighbors are also asked to leave their homes in strong windstorms.
But Dicks, D-Bremerton, had good news for the clock tower project in the form of a $100,000 direct appropriation from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Gifford said the county only needs to send back the required paperwork to get the grant.
