Standing above the trees and shop roofs on Stephen St. in Morden is the clock tower building.

Maybe you've driven by and wondered how old the building is or why it was built.

Today it's leased by the Pembina Hills Arts Council, and has been since 1996. Before that however, it was the old library and even housed the Morden and District Museum on the second floor. The museum was the first iteration of the Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre which, today, is a world-record holding museum.

Originally, the clock tower building was the Morden Dominion Post Office and was funded by the provincial government. A crew from Winnipeg was awarded the contract to build the post office and finished in 1915, making this the clock tower's 101st anniversary.

This clock mechanism, made in 1914, runs the four faces of the antique clock and the bell which tolls every hour.

"Due to a bunch of renovations that weren't completed last summer in time for us to really spend time celebrating," said Margie Hildebrand, programs and outreach coordinator for the Pembina Hills Arts Council.

This year, the PHAC honoured the century-old building with a special exhibit called, "Love Our Clock Tower". Local artists were encouraged to create pieces, drawings, photographs, murals, etc. that celebrated the clock tower. The exhibit runs until the end of August.

At 101 years old, the clock in the tower needs help to keep running; the mechanism needs to be hand-wound just like when it was first installed. City of Morden employees in the community services branch climb into the ceiling of the art gallery the clock twice a week to wind the clock.

"It's my absolute favourite building in Morden," said Tim Harsant, the facility manager with Morden community services. Harsant is passionate about the clock tower building and about maintaining its heritage.

"It's one of the most beautiful buildings in Morden," said Harsant.

"I think that it is part of the grand history of Morden," Historian Lenore Laverty said. "[It] symbolizes the fact that the people of Morden, over the years, have valued their heritage."

Laverty was on a team creating a historical brochure about the old post office which would have been released at the centennial celebration, but are lying in boxes--they were never released to the public.

In 1988, Morden, still a town back then, designated the building as a municipal heritage sight. This guaranteed the building would remain standing, though Laverty says there was never any discussion of tearing it down.