Almost three years ago, Bariles blogged about the old and dilapidated Pioneer Avenue Clock Tower wherein he waxed nostalgic about its once mighty dominance over General Santos City’s former premier business and entertainment district. Read it by clicking here—> Pioneer Avenue’s Old Clock Tower.
Back in that post, Bariles wondered when this city landmark will be rehabilitated by its former donors, the Gen. Santos City Lions Club since it’s proving to be an eyesore and a white elephant in the Tuna Capital’s downtown area.
But now, Bariles has no more need to fret because the Mt. Matutum Lions Club which is the mother club of its original sponsors, which has already been dissolved, will finally be turning over a newly restored and refurbished Pioneer Avenue Clock Tower to the city!
According to Lions President Oscar Santos, the defective clock will not be repaired and instead, will be replaced by a luminous LED clock. The whole thing including the renovation, repainting and other restoration works on the tower will cost the club P100,000!
The turnover of the new Pioneer Avenue Clock Tower by the Lions Club to the city, through Mayor Darlene Antonino-Custodio will happen at 4pm on March 17, 2011, Thursday.
This early, GenSan News Online Mag is thanking the Mt. Matutum Lions Club for this move to restore the Clock Tower and hopefully, this will help bring the glory back to our iconic Pioneer Avenue.
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@Myk. Well said. Your point is something that is unique, can be associated with the Generals history…
The “Tower Clock” along Pioneer Avenue should have been “restored” and not “replaced”. A heritage worth preserving. It’s been there for decades. It’s a landmark. I’ve seen it’s glory days when i was still a kid. Back in the day, Tower Clocks were built for the purpose of people telling time visually and/or audibly with clocks being able to play chimes. Not the loud and prolonged sirens you hear from the city hall at 8am,12 noon and 5pm (dunno if it still does now) as if an air raid is coming. At present, Tower Clocks are treated more for their aesthetic and sentimental value. That icon humbly anchors us, Generals, to our beginnings. Back to the time when Gensan started becoming a “boomtown” (well, the bomb blasts weren’t the reason for such a monicker).
My point is…who needs an oversized digital clock these days? Everybody’s got a cellphone. People’s faces are stuck on their mobile phones most of the time even when driving or crossing the street. Might as well place an electronic billboard while they’re at it. Might be more useful if it displays factual information and/or bulletins (e.g. power and water interruptions and so on). Could be boring but may come in handy. But then again, i hope we would learn to value things that’s been a part of us, Generals.
Seryosoha nako oi… murag ako jud gidibdib dah… on a lighter note, look’s like a giant timebomb 🙂 hmmm… an icon for “boomtown”?.. hope not.. peace!
@Myk, that’s an interesting point. Personally, I was initially thinking that they would be replacing the old one with the same “clock with two ticking hands” and was mildly disappointed when I found out that it was not the case. But I guess, we have to hand it over to the City Lions for making use of what has turned out to be an eyesore for the longest time. And it’s time that we all synchronize our timepieces to one standard time. Thanks for your comments. Am sure the Lions and other civic organizations who are on the lookout for projects for the city will take your suggestion into consideration. 🙂
@ sid ayala. Haha wrong interpretation talaga. I just look the tower & could not see where the clock will be put by Lions club & it seem that their logo is the only one visible. Anyway, we are still hoping that our idea of having the clock restored in that area will be taken into consideration soonest by our city government. It’s a must…
hahaha, i thought its the old clock will be restored, i just learned that it’s the clock TOWER was restored and not the CLOCK, they’ve just put a new clock in the form of LED clock..i guessed lots of commentator of this site misinterpreted the article…photojournalism keeps the real story talaga..haha
The LED CLOCK is up!!! Congratulations GenSan! Thank you Mt. Matutum Lions Club!!!
@ Toinks. Good point ka diyan, para naman di lang palamuti itong clock we should use this to the max. Tama during New Year’s countdown at iba pang city grandiose celebrations natin that could highlight our clock tower we could used that occasion. Sayang lang na ginastusan ng P100K ng Lions if we couldn’t maximize its glory.Hehe
If I’m not mistaken, ginawang MUSEUM ng CDO government ang old water tank nila dun… Tama si GenSan Bike Lanes, we can do something about that useless tank….
@Fahdz, i agree. Nice suggestion from Bikelanes. I sure would like to go rapelling from up there. 🙂
Sana simula sa darating na New Year 2012 (In God’s grace) and beyond, ang City Clock Tower na ito ay syang magiging sentro ng selebrasyon ng ciudad para sa New Year Countdown with matching bonggang bonggang 30-minute fireworks display at gagawin itong tradisyon ng city na may new year street party added attraction na rin para sa mga bisita at mga local.
@Toinks, that is one good suggestion. Hope the Mayor or any of the city officials can read this. A NeW YeaR countdown for the whole city!!!! Yey! 🙂
Good that it revived the clock it is a some sort of pride to us General’s that we valued TIME. When I was small everytime I passed Pioneer Avenue, I always look up high at this clock. It’s really a nice project by Lions Club, we certainly need an “Official Clock” here in Gensan so that we could at least be uniform in our time schedules, may it be in office, schools & meeting appointments. My hats off to our City Government & obcourse to Lions Club for such commendable project. Indeed it’s a big contribution to our city. ^-^
@white knight, that is right! Now, we can SYCHRONIZE our clocks and watches to one “OFFICIAL CLOCK” and never be late or too early for any appointment. 🙂
Job well done, Lions! By the way speaking of white elephants, The huge tank (with Coca cola ad) lying beside the Gensan tennis court is I believe one of those kind of elephants. The City or whoever is the one in charge may develop it as one safe outdoor recreation tower and tourist attraction. For a fee, one may climb it for fun or exercise and while on top of it, get a better view of the beautiful sites from our city such as the Sarangani bay and the mountains toward Mt.Matutum. In going down, on e may use a slide or zipline and again, it comes with a fee. Go go GenSan.
I can still vividly recall the clock….
and now the historic clock tower is back with a twist of modernity…
At least kung marestore na ang ORASAN, di na magtatanong mga Tricycle drivers kung anong oras na… kasi nahahalata ko ang lakas nilang magtanong ng oras basta nasa PIONEER Avenue… LOL..
Magandang GENSAN!
at Mark: Baka permanent na yang logo ng Lions Club dyan sa taas…ang ilalagay nilang orasan siguro ay isang “Digital Clock” na naka LED ang display. Mas matingkad kasi ang LED lights para mas tanaw kahit sa malayuan. Siguro ilalagay nila ang orasan dyan sa may biga na tinutungtungang ng pintor sa larawan.
sus ginooo….
hehehe.. hndi nga ako ngkamali sir avel since i first saw it last2 week pa nung ngpost cla ng mga bamboo pole and started to do smething on the clock tower.. i think its between 9 pm in the evening… now i am still curious about the logo of the lions club, sa isip ko bka pnglan lng.. pero i thnk na may hiwaga sa likod nyan.. now i finally prove and sure that there is really a clock behind it… hehe, thanks so much sir avel… this is a very good news to our city and will give another attraction to our city.. im sure marmi nmn ang dadagsa dito at mgapa.pics..:) hehe.. (^_^)
Tanggalin na lang din sana yang naka lawit na poer line na nakakabit sa clock tower…masagwa kasi tignan…ipadaan na lang sa underground yung service entrance nito.
relos pala ito? i was thinking na logo lang ito ng Lions Club. it was nice that it was restored again.
WOW! Mabuhay Mt. Matutum Lion’s Club. Thank you and more power to the organization. The LED clock would certainly become one of the club’s visible legacies to the City of General Santos. <3
I still remember this old clock. It has a distinctive sound every hour ba?. I hope the new one will also have a rhythmic sound to remind us of time passing by. 🙂
Yes buhay na ulit si STARfish with a clock!^^
Clock pala ‘yun? Hehe!
I have never seen the clock tower work in my lifetime, so this is a welcome development!