Is time running out for Winnipeg's 120-year-old clock?

The climb to the top of the clock tower of Winnipeg's old city hall building was dark and eerie, and for Norman Beattie – just 10-years-old at the time – it was terrifying.

Illuminated by a naked lightbulb hanging from wooden rafters, the interior of the once-grand epicentre of the city was dry and dusty. The flight of stairs ascending to the upper floors of the old hall had no handrails for the young boy to cling to – just a dark hole that, should he trip on a step and fall, he would plummet at least a couple of stories.

"I've never liked heights," Beattie, now 75-years-old, told CTV News. "Going up that stairway with no banister on it in the dark, I remember that quite vividly."

It was the late 1950s in Winnipeg when Beattie was given an intimate look inside the old city hall – affectionately referred to by many as the 'Gingerbread City Hall.'

Beattie's father had been the caretaker of the building and gave him and his mother a tour that left them with a 'jaundiced' view of the beautiful building.

A picture of Winnipeg's old city hall, affectionately referred to by many as the Gingerbread City Hall. (Source: The University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections, the Winnipeg Tribune Photograph Collection, PC 18 (A1981-012)

He tried to keep close to his father who was carrying a flashlight just a few paces ahead of him. With each turn, he feared his father would disappear. In the darkness, makeshift chicken wire fences held back shadowy piles of junk. His father told him they were long-forgotten gifts to the city.

"I remember one of the things I saw on top of a pile of stuff was a stuffed buffalo head," he said. "I guess somebody didn't want it anymore and they put it up in the attic."

Under the upper windows that overlooked Main Street, hundreds of spent flashbulbs scattered the floor – left behind by intrepid newspaper reporters who would climb up inside the building to get a picture of a parade or event on Main Street.

As Beattie climbed higher, the staircase narrowed and became a dark spiralling wooden tunnel-like passageway leading to the turret top of the building. Outside, city hall's tattered flag whipped in the wind, and shook the structure.

It was here that Beattie passed the complex cluster of cogs and gears faithfully ticking away – the inner workings of city hall's enormous four-faced clock that towered 105 feet high.

A picture of Winnipeg's old city hall, affectionately referred to by many as the Gingerbread City Hall. (Source: The University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections, the Winnipeg Tribune Photograph Collection, PC 18 (A1981-012)

That clock has been a part of Winnipeg's history for 120 years, but now a question mark hangs over its future.

A SIGN OF THE TIMES: WHEN WINNIPEG GOT ITS FIRST PUBLIC CLOCK

When it was installed in the tower of the old city hall building in May 1903, it was the city's first public clock and was guaranteed by its makers not to vary by 10 seconds a month, according to records from the city's archival department.

"(It) was considered in accounts of the time as marking the transition in Winnipeg's growth from a frontier settlement to a bustling and sophisticated centre of commerce," the records read.

A picture of Winnipeg's old city hall, affectionately referred to by many as the Gingerbread City Hall. (Source: The University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections, the Henry Kalen fonds, PC 219 (A2005-100)

Just a couple years after Beattie's terrifying tour up the tower, Winnipeg's grand hall was razed in 1962. But that clock lived on, eventually emerging nearly two-and-a-half decades later as a part of an ill-fated project to revitalize the city's core.

THE PLAN TO BRING 'UNPRECEDENTED DEVELOPMENT' TO WINNIPEG

When Portage Place Shopping Centre opened on September 17, 1987, there was a sense of optimism and excitement. The mall with its nearly 150 new stores would be a catalyst for revitalization in Downtown Winnipeg – at least, that is what the hope was.

Winnipeg Mayor William Norrie and other dignitaries cut the ribbon and officially open Portage Place Shopping Centre for business on September 17, 1987. (Source: CTV News Winnipeg)

"We see here today the first of what is going to be a tremendous revitalization, an unprecedented development in the history of the City of Winnipeg," Mayor William Norrie said during the grand opening.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE OPENING DAY OF PORTAGE PLACE MALL

Towering above Norrie as he cut the ribbon, officially opening the mall for business, was the historic clock tower.

Now restored and electrified with a new 20-bell Carillion and four replica clock faces, the timepiece was erected inside the glass-topped Edmonton Court and overlooked the hundreds of customers bustling inside the mall.

The clock is still ticking in Portage Place Shopping Centre, albeit a few minutes behind. (Source: Danton Unger/CTV News Winnipeg)

At the time, Norrie dedicated the clock tower on behalf of the citizens of Winnipeg.

As years passed, stores closed and hopes of revitalization waned – the clock kept ticking, albeit a few minutes behind.

TICK TOCK, WHO OWNS THE CLOCK?

The actual ownership of the clock is a bit of a mystery in and of itself.

Vancouver-based Peterson Group, which currently owns the Portage Place Shopping Centre, was not able to confirm if it owns the clock.

A request from CTV News to the City of Winnipeg seeking clarification required the city's archivist to take a deep dive into their records. After a week of searching, the city archives staff said they were unable to speak to who currently owns the clock.

The Forks North Portage Development Partnership tells CTV News it doesn't own the clock either.

There’s a plaque at its base explaining its role in Winnipeg's history, so its significance isn’t lost on those walking beneath it. Even with the plaque, some may not realize it is anything more than an old clock that doesn't keep time anymore.

"They've given it a very prominent location in Portage Place. It's really cool to walk by and everybody gets to see it," said Heritage Winnipeg Executive Director Cindy Tugwell. "I just don't know if it does it justice, and people just think it's a cool clock."

With True North Real Estate Development crafting a plan to turn the struggling shopping centre into a large complex of health-care services, affordable housing, and public green spaces, what will become of the clock is unknown.

The clock is still ticking in Portage Place Shopping Centre, albeit a few minutes behind. (Source: Danton Unger/CTV News Winnipeg)

"(True North Real Estate Development) recognizes the significance of the clock at Portage Place and the importance of finding a suitable new home," Krista Sinaisky, the director of corporate communications at True North, told CTV News in an email. "Relocation options will be fully explored as the redevelopment project progresses."

'WE'RE ALL WAITING WITH BATED BREATH'

Tugwell says whatever happens to the clock, Heritage Winnipeg wants to see it preserved in some way.

"We want to tell the story of Winnipeg, and that is part of the story," she said. "This is an important remnant of that building in that era, and there's not much left from that era."

She said all Winnipeggers can be thankful to the past generations for having the foresight to preserve the clock this long. Now, she says, it is this generation's turn.

"We're all waiting with bated breath to find out you know what's going to happen to it," she said. "Is it going to stay? Is it going to move? Will it be given more prominence because we are so much older now and we have so much more respect for preserving things in this city?"

Beattie is not worried though; he's sure Winnipeg's old clock will, in some way or another, keep right on ticking.

"Once things have survived for more than 100 years, they become kind of icons."