Daytona Beach Coquina Clock Tower

The Coquina Clock Tower was constructed between 1936 and 1937 by the Work Progress Administration (WPA). In the 1930s Daytona Beach, like many other cities, were going through a server economic depression. City officials were having a hard time getting tourists to Daytona, so they lobbied to the federal government to build a large outdoor amphitheater complex. Once they got approved they started construction, and finished construction in 1937. The entire project cost $268,000. The Boardwalk Park and its band shell and Clock Tower were officially dedicated on July 4, 1938, and the celebration had over 5,000 people in attendance.

Since the tower has a unique design and its close proximity to the beach it has been very hard to take care of. The tower is very susceptible to tropical storms so there are many challenges when it comes to the maintenance. There have been many electrical problems with the clock movement, and also has structural issues because the deterioration of the rock and coquina rocks falling. Coquina rock is actually made of shell fragments and quartz grains held together by calcium carbonate. The rock is very easy to cut when in the ground but hardens when it hits the air.

The Coquina Clock Tower is very unique because all four of its one-of-a-kind faces (which are transparent) feature the twelve letters of the city (D-A-Y-T-O-N-A-B-E-A-C-H) instead of roman numerals like most other clocks. The clock towers uniqueness and its history with the city is what makes it such a big landmark in the city.

Coquina Clock Tower - Daytona Beach, FL - Town Clocks on Waymarking.com, www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM6VZ6_Coquina_Clock_Tower_Daytona_Beach_FL.

This page is gives a description of the clock tower and gives some of its history, like how it was built in 1936 as a part of a Work Progress Administration (WPA) project to develop Boardwalk Park, and build the band shell. This page is very useful for tourist who are trying to find places around Daytona Beach to visit.

Dickinson, Joy Wallace. “Summer Heat Brings Warm Memories of Seaside Landmarks.” OrlandoSentinel.com, 7 Dec. 2018, www.orlandosentinel.com/features/os-xpm-2013-06-16-os-joy-wallace-dickinson-0616-20130616-story.html.

This article by Joy Wallace Dickinson talks about different landmarks that are round Daytona Beach and talks shortly about the Coquina Clock Tower and the material its made of which is coquina rock. It explains how coquina rock is very easy to cut in the ground but when it hits air it hardens.

Jaye, Randy. “The History and Efforts to Preserve Daytona Beach’s Unique Coquina Clock Tower.” History Speak , www.historyspeak.com/The History and Efforts to Preserve Daytona Beach’s Unique Coquina Clock Tower.

This is an article of the full history of the tower and how it came to be. This article gives specific facts about the Clock Tower and all the different things that went into getting it approved, getting it built, and keeping it in tact over the years. It talks about all the different things that the tower has been through since 1936, like all the different malfunctions and damage it has had.

Lane, Mark. “Clock Tower Clockworks Replaced.” Daytona Beach News-Journal Online, Daytona Beach News-Journal Online, 14 Jan. 2014, www.news-journalonline.com/article/LK/20140113/News/605057391/DN.

This is a short article about one of the malfunctions that has happened with the clock, and how the mechanism that moves its clock hands had to be replaced. It explained how each of the four clock faces are powered by a different mechanism and that they had to be replaced because the last time they were was in 2008.

Renata, et al. “Daytona Beach - Clock Tower.” Daytona Beach Blog, 9 Jan. 2009, daytona-beach-blog.com/2008/daytona-beach-clock-tower.

This blog explains the creation and the significance of the Daytona Beach Coquina Clock Tower. The clock tower was seen as a way to get people to come to Daytona because during the 1930's they in an economic depression like many other cities in America.