Saving the clock tower

On Independence Day 2007, Brooklyn will likely be able to celebrate the liberation of one of its crown jewels. The clock tower of the borough’s tallest building, the Williamsburgh Savings Bank tower, will be freed of the netting and scaffolding that has enshrouded it since August of last year. The building’s owners, who are converting the Fort Greene landmark into condos, say they hope renovation work on the 512-foot, four-faced clock will be completed by summer. “We’re aiming to have the renovations done by the Fourth of July,” said Andrew MacArthur, a principal at the Dermot Company, a co-developer of the building at One Hanson Place. MacArthur said renovations to the clock, which was the largest in the world between 1929 and 1962, were part of the $8 million facelift the developers are giving the tower’s façde. more By Gabby Warshawer