Rotary Club - 100 Years - Ardmore, OK
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member QuarrellaDeVil
N 34° 10.401 W 097° 08.094
14S E 671897 N 3782948
Rotary International was founded in 1905, and to celebrate their centennial, they constructed this comfort station -- a rest room -- behind the historic bandstand in the center of Central Park at the southwest intersection of W Main and E Street SW.
Waymark Code: WMW13T
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 06/25/2017
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member lumbricus
Views: 1

The comfort station was intended to have the same feel in terms of construction as the bandstand. The National Register of Historic Places registration form describes the comfort station thusly (slightly edited):

"Less than ten feet from the back of the bandstand is located the noncontributing stone restroom. Constructed in 2005 as a Centennial Project of Ardmore's Rotary International, the restroom is officially called the "Central Park Comfort Station." The restroom has a limestone foundation with a concrete floor and sidewalk to the front. The roof of the building is hipped, metal with wide, boxed eaves. Under the eaves, on the front of the building, are several flush lights. While the restroom matches the bandstand in the use of light-colored stone and random ashlar pattern of masonry, the stone is not quarry-faced and the overall stonework is notably not as refined as the stonework of the bandstand. The comfort station has no openings on the west, north and east sides. On the south side of the building there are three metal slab doors set into a central, rectangular opening under the principal roof. The central door leads to the maintenance area. The east door provides access to the men's room and the west door to the women's restroom. Small plaques, noting the intended gender, are located on the outside of both the restroom doors. To the west of the opening, located roughly at eye-level, there is another, larger, metal plaque:

Central Park Comfort Station
Rotary Centennial Project 2005
Ardmore Rotary Club
Arbuckle Sunrise Rotary Club
Southern Oklahoma Memorial Foundation - The Charles B. Goddard Foundation
Community Activities, Inc - Community Foundation of Ardmore
Ardmore Parks and Recreation Department - City of Ardmore, Oklahoma
Friends of Charlene Kern - Lumpkin and Associates Architects

A concrete sidewalk extends along the front side of the comfort station from the sidewalk which curves along the sides and front of the bandstand. To the direct west of the building, and just off the north side of the walk, there is a modern, metal water fountain.

A bit of history of Rotary International:

Paul P. Harris, an attorney, wanted to create a professional group with the same friendly spirit he felt in the small towns of his youth. On 23 February 1905, Harris, Gustavus Loehr, Silvester Schiele, and Hiram Shorey gathered at Loehr’s office in Room 711 of the Unity Building in downtown Chicago. This was the first Rotary club meeting. They decided to call the new club “Rotary” after the practice of rotating meeting locations.

Within five years clubs had formed across the country, from San Francisco to New York.

In August 1910, Rotarians held their first convention in Chicago. The 16 clubs that existed at that time united to form the National Association of Rotary Clubs.

In 1912, the name changed to International Association of Rotary Clubs to reflect the addition of clubs in other countries. The name Rotary International was adopted in 1922.

By July 1925, Rotary had grown to more than 2,000 clubs and an estimated 108,000 members on six continents.

Rotary’s reputation attracted presidents, prime ministers, and a host of other luminaries to its ranks — among them author Thomas Mann, diplomat Carlos P. Romulo, and composer Jean Sibelius.

As Rotary grew, members pooled their resources and used their talents to serve their communities. The organization's dedication to this ideal is best expressed in its motto: Service Above Self.

In 1932, Rotarian Herbert J. Taylor created The Four-Way Test. The test, which has been translated into more than 100 languages, asks the following questions:

Of the things we think, say or do

Is it the TRUTH?

Is it FAIR to all concerned?

Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?

Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?

Anniversary Year: 2005

Year of Event, Organization or Occurance: 1905

Address:
southwest intersection of W Main and E Street SW
Ardmore, OK USA
73401


Website: [Web Link]

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