THE long-neglected Nylex clock in Mentone is still switched off with little sign of progress in attempts to have it restored.
The Nylex sign, built in 1967, remained at its highly visible Nepean Highway located after the textile manufacturing factory closed its door but has not been maintained near the Bunnings store it sits alongside today.
Mordialloc and District Historical Society member Dorothy Booth says she has been speaking to development company H. Troon about restoring the sign at a cost of about $38,000.
“I’ve been lobbying them to get that clock up and fixed,” she said.
“In the overall scheme of things it’s not a lot of money.”
Ballarat-based H.Troon sold the 12,500 square-metre Mentone retail centre last month to syndicator The Property Advisory for $40 million.
H.Troon development director Tom McInerney said the firm was still in talks with Kingston Council about the Nylex clock.
“We still have an interest in the land,” he said.
Council planning and development manager Jonathan Guttman said council has been involved in discussions about the clock “over many years”.
“As the clock is not located on Council land, nor is it a council asset, there is currently no budget allocation for restoration works.”
Ms Booth agreed council should not have to pay for the Nylex clock’s restoration.
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News – 17 February 2016
