PORT TOWNSEND — The Tidal Clock is counting down to its final hour.
On Monday night, the Port Townsend City Council decided to put an end to the piece of public art that never quite worked as intended with a vote of 6-0 in favor of removing it from the waterfront.
Councilwoman Laurie Medlicott was absent for the vote.
The matter came before council as the final step after the Port Townsend Arts Commission voted 7-2 in January in favor of removing the clock.
Now, the clock will be filled in, replaced by a stage and turned into a public place for concerts and other events — perhaps as early as April.
“This is a very regrettable situation,” said Councilman Mark Welch.
“I was very in favor of this design as it was the most exciting one offered at the time.
“By the same token I’ve come to feel its purpose is to show how not to do public art.
“Had it been built as intended, we wouldn’t be having this discussion, but we would be celebrating it.
“I liken it to if Michelangelo had done the Sistine Chapel in stick figures.
“It was doomed because of the nature of government and the nature of the process and because no one said let’s stop and do this right.”
The clock — more commonly known as the Tidal Bowl — was envisioned as a community gathering place when it was created in 1987 with a gift of $200,000 from Ruth Seavey Jackson, a member of a Port Townsend family with a seafaring tradition, who wanted a piece of community art created to celebrate the waterfront.
The clock was supposed to collect marine life in a series of graduate steps inside the bowl.
Instead it collects a menagerie of debris, from plastic bags to telephone-pole sized logs, as waves from Port Townsend Bay crash against the rocks at the entrance.
“There were several changes made to the design from the beginning,” Welch said, “the most egregious of which was putting a wall up there.
“You should have been able to go down and actually touch the water.”
Rick Sepler, director of development services, said compromises were made in the original construction, including not sealing the bottom of the clock and building the wave viewing gallery on rotting pilings.
Sepler, who has been working on correcting the problems with the Jackson Bequest since 1990, said that the original concept was not completed in accordance with the artists’ vision.
“The best solution we have is moving the wave gallery ashore and filling in the clock,” he said.
A public hearing held before the vote brought only a few speakers.
Frank Vane, a member of the arts commission who voted against removal of the clock, asked the city to return the money for the gift to the family.
“The contracts with the Jackson estate and the artists were violated, and the contract has been in default for 20 years,” Vane said.
“My recommendation is to recognize the default, undedicate the area and return the money to the family.
“Surely the city can pay back the request, and I believe the community will accept this as a fair resolution.”
Doug Mason, a Port Townsend resident who has worked on other artistic gifts to the city, said he was concerned with the process.
“My concern is what happens to these memorials that people pay money for,” Mason said.
“It seems to me that it is very disrespectful to the people being memorialized.”
Sepler said he hoped the new design would serve as a continuing memorial to the family.
“In terms of a memorial, the city has indicated that whatever space results from this that it will continue to serve as a memorial to the family,” Sepler said.
Mayor Michelle Sandoval said that the proposed changes would be better than what is currently there.
“In its current condition, it isn’t an appropriate memorial for anyone,” she said.
The Jackson Bequest includes all of the Tidal Park area, the Tidal Clock, the Wave Viewing Gallery and a section of land behind the police station.
The city will now reclaim that space and create a public space by building a stage with a circular seating area.
“It’s a great public space, and it’s time for the community to retake that place on the water,” Sepler said.
“We can have concerts there, art shows, performances. We would have a great facility to do stuff at right there on the water.”
Said City Manager David Timmons: “We’re not going overboard, just letting people enjoy going back there. It will be more of a usable space than just a hole.”
The wave-viewing gallery, which has been partially shut down for a decade because the pilings holding up the deck are structurally unsound, will be moved inland and kept intact as part of the process.
Reporter Erik Hidle can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at erik.hidle@peninsuladailynews.com.
