A new clock was installed in downtown Mars borough with help from the Rich-Mar Rotary and other local organizations. Submitted image

After two years, the borough of Mars has a new town clock on its streets, thanks to a generous donation from the Rich-Mar Rotary and other local organizations.

The borough announced the finished installation of the new clock on Tuesday, Sept. 10. According to borough Mayor Gregg Hartung, the new clock is a replacement for the previous one, which fell over roughly two years ago after many years of use.

“The base had gotten rotten,” Hartung said. “It just got old and worn out.”

The old clock “was installed right at sidewalk level, and through salting over the years, it corroded the base of the clock,” said Dave Hein, president of the Rich-Mar Rotary. “The clock now is raised up several inches off the ground on a big pedestal, which is very similar to what they do with a lot of other street clocks that we looked at.”

The Rich-Mar Rotary, which had donated the previous clock to the borough decades earlier, stepped forward and gathered funds for the clock’s construction and installation.

“They bought the original one that was there, so they felt obligated to replace it,” Hartung said.

Other local companies chipped in, including Armstrong, the Mars Area History and Landmarks Society, and Mars-based businesses Lectromat, Clocks Repaired by Jeff, and Mars Bank (who made their contribution before merging with NexTier Bank in February).

The borough’s public works department chipped in by pouring the concrete for the base and installing the clock.

“We finally had time in our public works schedule to put the new clock up,” Hartung said.

The clock itself was manufactured in nearby Allison Park, in Allegheny County.

“I think most of the components were U.S.-made,” Hein said. “So that’s kind of a win-win all around.”

While the new borough clock is very similar in appearance to the previous one, Hein noted one key difference — the sign above the clock.

“The old clock had ‘Rich-Mar Rotary’ on there,” Hein said. “But since we have multiple donors and we wanted to honor the town, we elected to put ‘Mars, P.A.’ on it.”