The historic clock atop City Hall stopped shortly after 6:30 a.m. Monday so crew members could get inside the tower and clamber outside to gussy up the late-19th-century landmark downtown.

The hands on the four-sided clock should be moving again by Friday. The four faces rival London’s Big Ben in diameter at more than 23 feet.

Along with time standing still these many days, the clock’s bells that chime throughout the week are silenced, and its lights are turned off.

Engineers chose roughly 6:30 for the hands to stop because that made them less obtrusive as cleaning progressed, said Hennepin County spokeswoman Carolyn Marinan. The Municipal Building Commission, a joint agency of the city and the county, runs the building.

More at source: Star Tribune

Find a cleaning service here.