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Lionshead clock comes down Tuesday

Scott N. Miller
Preston Utley/Vail DailyThe clock tower sits in Lionshead, which is to be demolished on Tuesday.
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VAIL – The big clock in Lionshead will probably only be right once Tuesday.After 30 years or so, the clock tower is set for demolition. The Vail Town Council has been invited, and there will be various poohbahs from Vail Resorts on hand, too. For most who show up, bringing down the tower will be a celebration, an important milestone in rebuilding Lionshead.The tower, along with the old gondola building and Sunbird Lodge, are coming down to make way for the Arrabelle at Vail Square, a large condominium-hotel project. But there will be a few mixed feelings as the triangular tower falls.”It’s kind of sad it’s coming down, but changes aren’t a bad thing,” said Lisa Bouvier, owner of the French Deli. “I’m not necessarily sorry to see it go, and I’m happy for the improvements that are coming.”Keith Kjelden has worked at the tiny FirstBank office on the plaza for the past eight years. He’s had a dandy view of the clock tower, he said.”It should be fun watching it come down,” he said. “But it’s kind of too bad we’re losing it. I got a print of the clock tower and the old popcorn wagon for Christmas. It’s nice to have that.” Jim Cooper of the Double Diamond ski shop can see the tower better from his home on the north side of the interstate than from the shop.”It’s kind of hard to picture Lionshead without it,” Cooper said. “It’s going to be hard to look from my house and not see it.”

But not everyone has mixed feelings.”I think it’s ugly,” said Nate Knauer of Charlie’s T-shirts. “I’d like to see something else, either something more with the times, or that won’t go out of style.”The clock tower’s demise might be the most obvious milestone in Lionshead’s renovation so far, but Lynnette Mischio had a more subtle moment of reality.”For me it was the (sculpture) of the three skiers coming out,” said Mischio, owner of the Flying Burrito. “That’s when I really said, ‘It’s really happening.'”With the clock tower coming down, some in Lionshead are wondering what’s going to replace it. The big answer – a big hotel/condo building – is obvious, but the big question was whether there would be another clock.There will be, and then some. Plans for the Arrabelle include a clock tower, a glockenspiel and a bell tower.Tongue firmly in cheek, Charlie’s T-shirts owner Charlie Stone had his own idea for the Arrabelle.”I think there should be a glockenspiel with Packy (Walker) and Sheika (Gramshammer) in it,” Stone said.

Staff Writer Scott N. Miller can be reached at 949-0555, ext. 613, or smiller@vaildaily.com.================Out of timeWhat: Demolishing the Lionshead clock towerWhere: By the old gondola buildingWhen: Tuesday at 1 p.m.



Why: To make way for the Arrabelle at Vail Square condo/hotel projectHow: No one’s sure yet=====================Vail Daily, Vail Colorado


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