For 30 years, it has survived the Vietnam War, disco, Cindy Lauper and wretched Boston winters. But this past December, time stopped in Harvard Square. The mechanical controller for the digital clock above Cambridge Savings Bank "melted," according to Nelson Goddard, senior vice president of administration for the bank.

Do not be fooled by its apparent repair over the last couple weeks. The Cambridge Savings Bank clock as we know it has given up the ghost, never to return to the land of the ticking. Goddard explains that parts needed to fully restore the old clock are "no longer available," explaining why a brand new, "nearly identical" replacement now perches in its place.

When asked why the clock ticked its last tock, Goddard cites its old age as the primary cause of death.

Services will not be held for the old clock. At the dawn of this new era, we can only hope for another 30 years.