Residents sound off on downtown chimes

With the newly completed renovation at the Clock Tower Park on Flaming Gorge Way, the sound of chimes now echoes throughout downtown Green River.

While a physical set of chimes isn’t installed in the clock tower itself, electronic chimes are played through speakers in the park.

“I hear the chimes every 15 minutes,” Sweetwater County Historical Museum Director Ruth Lauritzen said. “They seem to make the day go by faster.”

Lauritzen said she is getting used to the sound, noticing them less than when they started playing, but enjoys them when she catches the melody.

Historically, church bells played important roles in communities. Lauritzen said they would often inform people of when it was time to attend church or other important times of the day. In Green River and Rock Springs, she said the early towns were ruled by the Union Pacific company whistle.

One story Laurtizen recalls involved an early Green River teacher who also drank heavily after school. She said he would hand the students assignments to complete, then pass out at his desk until the lunchtime whistle blew, teaching his lessons during the afternoon period.

Loanda Slaton of the Daily Knead Bakery, also enjoys listening to the chimes and like Laurizen, is starting to notice them less and less.

“You don’t notice them,” she said. “I think I’ve heard them twice today.”

Diana Fritzler, an employee at the Sweetwater County Juvenile Probation and Parole Office, said she typically only hears them while she’s outside during a cigarette break.

She said the first time she heard them, she was somewhat startled because she didn’t expect the sound.

She also said she enjoys the music played by the clock tower, but admits the chimes don’t sound real, comparing them to household electronic clocks.

While many appear to enjoy the sound the clock tower produces, some of the employees at Wyoming Land Title Company, next to the park, say the chimes are disruptive to their work.

Stacy Waters, one of the company’s employees, said the 15-minute intervals seem somewhat excessive, suggesting an hourly tune to the current schedule.

Kim McKinney, another employee, said the 15-minute intervals can disrupt long title closing meetings they host at their office. She also said that while she likes the chimes, she believes the tower should have a sound that’s more unique than chiming bells.