Old House Near Alamodome Reveals Inner Workings Of The ‘Tricentennial Clock’

From TPR:

Near railroad tracks, in the shadow of the Interstate 37 interchange, and about a football field away from the Alamodome, sits a house dating back to 1883 — a mauve- and cream-colored Roatzsch-Griesenbeck-Arciniega house, the only old structure within hundreds of yards.

“We are in a small historic house on the grounds of the Alamodome,” artist Ansen Seale said. “It’s owned by the city, and it’s a historically protected property.”

This historic home isn’t the art installation, though. The art is inside.

The installation is called the “Tricentennial Clock,” but its name is just a byproduct of the year it was made. Seale was looking for a tricentennial project, and he knew about the house.

“So we approached the city, and they thought it was a great idea,” he said. “They’ve been trying to find something to do with this house for many years.”

While you can’t get in the house to examine the clock by hand, the windows reveal it all. And Seale says once the sun is gone it’s particularly interesting.

“At night we have lights that shine through it, and they create shadows and reflections on the peeling paint on the walls,” he said. “People can come here anytime. The parking lot is usually open.”

As for the clock itself, Seale said it took roughly six months to build, and “it’s a very simple clock. It’s a very old technology, probably 500-year-old technology.

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