Photography by Danny Fulgencio.
Crews began removing the Lakewood Shopping Center clock in December 2021. It has yet to be reinstalled.
“We have every intention of reinstalling it,” says Meghan Moeltner, the marketing director for Maryland-based First Washington Realty, which purchased the shopping center in 2019.
Moeltner says she doesn’t have a specific date as to when the clock will be reinstalled, but she says it will be put back in its original place.
The clock was removed to prepare for the arrival of the newest and current tenant, Sweetgreen. Moeltner says the construction was also part of a larger renovation of the shopping center, including an upgrade of the facade.
Sweetgreen has been open in the old Dixie House, Sugarbacon Proper Kitchen and Kozy Kitchen space on Gaston Avenue since August. For several months, all that has been visible on the facade above the salad place’s patio is a dark, circular outline.
A dark, circular outline at Lakewood Shopping Center in February 2022. Photo by Renee Umsted.
This isn’t the first time the clock has been taken down. In 2013, under the ownership of Lincoln Property Co., the clock was removed for about a year and a half for repairs. Then in 2016, while Sugarbacon was open at the corner space, neon backing was added.
In 2017, residential remodeler Ron Siebler told us that he thought the clock was originally installed around 1984, when Corrigan Properties, one of the original developers of the neighborhood shopping center, renovated the property.
Siebler was hired by Sugarbacon to work on the clock. When we initially reported that the clock was being taken down in December 2021, Siebler told us that he had doubts about whether it would be reinstalled, based on the limited information available at the time. But when we followed up, he said it was possible the clock could be moved to a different location, scaled down or replaced in its original spot.
Moeltner could not answer what kind of work is being done to the clock, but she says they want to make sure to keep the integrity of the local landmark. If we receive any clarity on the unanswered questions, we will provide updates.
“We completely understand how iconic it is and how important it is,” Moeltner says.
