Rotary Club of Fort Wayne

New Rotary Centennial Tower to rise on Fort Wayne's cityscape in 2015

June 27, 2013

To commemorate its imminent 100^th anniversary, the Rotary Club of Fort Wayne has announced it will erect a Rotary Centennial Tower in downtown Fort Wayne. The Club celebrates its centennial in 2015.

The 22-foot structure (not including its base) will be built along the south side West Wayne Street on the “library green” adjacent to the Allen County Public Library. The Board of Library Trustees was presented the plan at its June 27 meeting and voted to approve the Rotary Club’s 100^th anniversary gift to the city on its property. The Allen County Public Library will assume ownership and maintenance of the Tower upon its completion.

“We chose this site among several others downtown because of the high pedestrian traffic and visibility,” explained Club President David Borgen. “We expect the Tower to become a distinctive feature of the landscape of our city.”

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Other features of the Rotary Centennial Tower include:

- Four backlit clocks visible night and day

- A sculptural globe representing Rotary’s international reach

- A digital carillon to chime the hour and play an infinite variety of tunes, including music from around the world

- A portable digital keyboard, enabling visitors to play the electronic bells of the carillon

- A large base to hold various plaques recognizing the Rotary Centennial Tower as the club’s lasting gift to the community, a representation of Rotary’s ideal of “Service Above Self,” and recognition of donors’ gifts

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The Rotary Centennial Tower is scheduled to be installed in the spring of 2015. Rotary Club of Fort Wayne members and past members are contributing nearly all funds for the Tower at a cost of $121,000. The Verdin Company, based in Cincinnati, will build and install the Tower. The company has been involved in 50,000 installations worldwide and is in its sixth generation of building bells, clocks, and towers.

More commonly known as the Downtown Rotary, the club’s 35 charter members held their first meeting January 9, 1915 at the former Commercial Club on Harrison Street. Today the Club has 130 members, who meet every Monday at noon at Parkview Field.

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One of three centennial projects

The Rotary Centennial Tower, pictured below, marks one of three centennial projects. “We want the Tower to stand as a link between our first 100 years and our second century of service,” Borgen said. “That’s why our Centennial Project includes significant local and international projects – which point us to the future. Our members insisted on giving a lasting legacy gift to the city and sponsoring local and international service projects to reflect the spectrum of our club’s efforts and commitment.”