Mary Merrill is one of the few who can say she literally changed time.

It was the 1980s. Merrill, her last name at the time Doughty, was working for North Idaho College when she noticed something was off with what’s now a prominent feature of downtown Coeur d’Alene.

Her bugaboo was the color scheme of the new three-sided clock tower built at The Coeur d’Alene Resort.

“At the time, it had black hands, and the black hands against that blue center were not enough contrast for you to easily read the time, so I called up Duane (Hagadone),” Merrill said of the late Coeur d’Alene Resort founder. “Those were the days you could actually call Duane up.”

Merrill, quickly patched through to Hagadone by the receptionist, suggested that time on the clock would be better told if its color scheme changed.

Less than two weeks later, the former black hands of the clock changed to white.

“Duane listened to the public, talked to people on his team and he acted upon it,” Merrill said. “And I believe that successful businesspeople are artists and have that one trait that carries through. They listen, they evaluate and then they act.” 

Merrill, turning 73 years old this week, recently told this story to the Coeur d’Alene Press because she’s “about history” and “saving history.” 

In addition to the clock tower itself, she remembered the Northern Pacific Railroad originally having the right-of-way in the area where the clock tower stands and when Duane Hagadone and partner Jerry Jaeger began redeveloping the old North Shore Resort.

Merrill said, “The history of that area is quite interesting.”

“Somebody needs to preserve the history of this business, of that business, before too many people have passed away and they don't remember,” she said.

Walter Burns, Coeur d’Alene Historic Preservation Commission chair, noted that The Coeur d’Alene Resort clock tower, as well as The Resort itself, which opened in 1986, is about 10 years away from being considered historic. According to the Idaho State Historical Society, a building must be at least 50 years old to be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.

For instance, the Clark's Fine Jewelry clock, installed 15 years after the downtown storefront opened in 1907, is a historic landmark. 

But in the spirit of the Coeur d’Alene clock tower’s history, Burns praised Merrill’s story about getting the colors changed.

“I think that’s very interesting and it’s cool that she did that and they did that,” he said. “Obviously, the clock tower is a prominent feature, and getting it to be more functional and pleasing is a great idea.”