Hawthorne unveils 16-foot clock for improved downtown
HAWTHORNE — Tall, dark and handsome. Always on schedule. Highly dependable.
It may read like a personal ad, but it is also the best way to describe the new fixture at the southeast corner of Diamond Bridge and Lafayette avenues.
A 16-foot-7-inch street clock was posted there, in the center of a pocket park, and unveiled last Wednesday afternoon.
“This clock is going to make a big difference in everyone’s life,” declared Mayor John Lane.
“It’s the focal point of this area,” he said. Moments later, Lane pulled off a canvas tarp to reveal the clock to some 30 spectators who assembled for a brief ceremony. The group included state Sen. Kristin Corrado, R-Totowa, and former Mayor Richard Goldberg. Members of the Passaic County Board of Commissioners were also on hand.
Representatives of the Hawthorne Lions Club were acknowledged for having the vision several years ago to create the small park, which had been nothing more than a patch of dirt. The borough leases the property.
The four-sided clock, manufactured by The Verdin Co. in Cincinnati, cost $30,270. Most of that price was covered by funds received through the Passaic County Corridor Enhancement Program.
In March 2022, officials launched a five-year plan to rejuvenate what they call the Gateway District. The area encompasses 64 storefronts and the surrounding neighborhood.
The plan is partly funded by the Neighborhood Preservation Program, administered by the state Department of Community Affairs.
The program was established in October 1975 when the state Legislature enacted the Maintenance of Viable Neighborhoods Act, hoping to spur economic and social change in cities like Camden and Trenton.
The clock is a key aspect of Hawthorne’s plan because officials say it anchors the downtown.
“It really sets the tone for what we want to do,” said John Bertollo, a former councilman and the chairman of a 14-person committee in charge of implementing the plan.
Other improvements within the district include freshly painted crosswalks and a mural by graffiti artist Carmelo Sigona at the municipal pool on May Street.
Forty-eight flower baskets now hang from lampposts along Lafayette Avenue, and Bertollo said new bicycle racks and furniture were ordered for installation at the public library.