Dismantling the old BJ clock tower

Beacon Journal columnist Bob Dyer reports on the dismantling of the BJ clock tower in a story in the newspaper on Thursday, May, 19, 2005 on page B1. The huge tower will be lowered to the street next week and given to renowned junkyard artist P. R. Miller and trucked to his workplace at 414 N. Howard St.

Miller will give dozens of floodlight bulbs to Miller South School for the Visual and Performing Arts for use in a student project. The big red plastic BJ letters will go to Bob “BJ” Jones, owner of Business Interiors and Environments on S. Broadway. Miller will then strip any parts he needs for a public art project. Whatever he does not use will go to Annaco Co., a scrap metal company on Hazel Street. Annaco then will write a check for $1,000 to United Way. BJ officials originally thought the tower was made of stainless steel worth $1,500 to $2,000, but only the outer covering is stainless and the inside galvanized so the actual value is somewhere between $400 and $750,