Strawberry Square announced they are working closely with Shippensburg University who has expressed interest in taking ownership of the Chockablock Clock that has stood in the Strawberry Square atrium for more than 30 years. When the clock machine is dismantled in early October, it will be delivered to Shippensburg instead of being crated and going into storage.
Brad Jones, President and CEO of Harristown Enterprises, Inc. (owner of Strawberry Square) expressed his gratification that the clock has found a new home. “We’re excited for the Chockablock Clock to find new life in such a prominent location as Shippensburg University and look forward to seeing it revitalized there.”
“Thousands of prospective students, current students, families, and friends visit the Shippensburg University campus every year,” said Dr. Charles E. Patterson, president of Shippensburg University. “The Chockablock Clock has been an historic piece of kinetic art in Strawberry Square and South Central Pennsylvania for generations, and we look forward to showcasing it on the Shippensburg campus for all to enjoy.”
Creative Machines, the company in Tucson, Arizona that builds and maintains these types of machines, will come to Harrisburg October 11 through 14 to disassemble, catalog and package the clock machine for moving. Creative Machines purchased Rock Stream Studios, the company that had initially installed the clock in Strawberry Square in the late 1980s.
Once dismantled, the clock will be delivered directly to Shippensburg University where the university will work to refurbish, reinstall and maintain the machine in the Ceddia Student Union Building (CUB) with the support of students in the Milton and Doreen Morgan School of Engineering. The Chockablock Clock audio-kinetic ball machine, designed by the late George Rhoads, was installed in the Strawberry Square atrium in 1988 by Rock Stream Studios then located in Ithaca, New York.
