The present RI Headquarters building was erected in 1970 as American Plaza by American Hospital Corp. RI HQ moved in 1987 and renamed it as One Rotary Center. The Hall of Honour was dedicated in 1990. Rotary Global History Raj Bedi, 3 February 2006

Rotary International was first headquartered in Chicago birthplace of the first Rotary club in 1910, serving 16 clubs.

Then known as the "Central Office," it relocated over the years in various rented offices until 1954. In that year, RI moved into a facility built and owned by the association in Chicago's neighboring north suburb of Evanston. By 1987, however, Rotary had outgrown these quarters and purchased a modern 18-story office building in Evanston, solving its long-term space needs. A mortgage on the building was retired in 1993. RI leases nearly two-thirds of the building to commercial tenants. Notable attractions for World Headquarters' visitors include the president's office, the Board room, the Paul Harris Room featuring memorabilia of Rotary's founder, and "Room 711," a recreation of the room where the first meetings of the Rotary Club of Chicago were held.

 

 

In the front courtyard of the building stands a symbol of Rotary's PolioPlus program a seven-foot bronze sculpture depicting a Rotarian giving oral polio vaccine to a young child as two older children look on.

The wall mural. Opposite the elevators is a large, sculpted mural that reveals something about the origin of our building. The building was erected as American Plaza in the mid 1970s by American Hospital Supply Corp. In the left side of the mural, you can see laboratory and surgical instruments. The large circular design on the right side of the mural is not a stylized Rotary gearwheel, but a depiction of in vitro fertilization.

(Rotary purchased and moved into the building in 1987, and renamed it One Rotary Center.)

The Hall of Honor. The RI Hall of Honor, dedicated in 1990, occupies the atrium area of floors 18 and 17. On this floor, exhibits include a bust of Paul Harris (in front of the window), made by a Japanese Rotarian sculptor when Paul visited that country in 1935. During World War II, the Japanese government confiscated the sculptor's collection for recycling into war materials, but the sculptor hid two busts: Paul's and Charles Lindberg's. The original is kept by Rotarians in Paul's boyhood home, Wallingford, Vermont.

Return to Center Tour