Big Ben needs $61.7 million worth of repairs

(Image credit: Carl Court/Getty Images)

last updated 19 October 2015

Time seems to be running out for Big Ben, with British media reporting that the 156-year-old landmark clock and tower are "ready to fail" and in dire need of refurbishment.

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The roof is leaking, the clock housing is corroded, there are large cracks in the masonry, and the clock's pendulum isn't properly balanced, The Sunday Times reports. To repair all of those issues — and add a visitor's center and elevator to the top — will cost about £40 million ($61.7 million) and take three years. The condition is so bad, sources say, the restoration has to happen now and can't wait for the entire Palace of Westminster's refurbishment, which is scheduled to begin at the end of the decade. The last time Big Ben received an overhaul was 31 years ago, the BBC says. Catherine Garcia

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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