Tecumseh, Ont. and the Rotary Club of Windsor-St. Clair entered into a unique partnership when the service organization engaged in the first sponsorship of a town traffic roundabout.
Under the agreement, the club covered the full cost of landscaping the roundabout at Riverside Drive East and Manning Road and is also providing a stainless steel sculpture featuring three six-foot tall renderings of the Rotary wheel logo.
The cost of the sculpture was $20,000, while the landscaping weighed in at $10,000, the amount that the town had originally budgeted for landscaping.
The club has also committed to financially assisting Tecumseh with the future development of nearby Lakewood Park South and/or the Ganatchio walking and biking trail along Riverside Drive.
The Rotarians discussed the idea more than two years ago while considering a slate of upcoming charitable projects.
“We’ve been involved with the Town of Tecumseh for about 20 years,” says club member Hardy Wheeler, who acted as a liaison with the town.
“We were interested in assisting with both Lakewood Park South and the Ganatchio Trail. However, the town wasn’t ready to proceed from an engineering perspective. We then asked them what they were planning to do with the roundabout that was being developed on the edge of those projects.”
The club decided to present the town council with a plan to erect the sculpture, not only to enhance the public image and awareness of Rotary International, but also to act as a promise of the local club’s future commitment to assist in developing the adjacent recreational areas.
“We reviewed the design proposal for appearance and for road safety, and it was then approved by council,” says Daniel Piescic, director of public works and environmental services with the Town of Tecumseh. “The sculpture sits on a concrete base 12 feet in diameter, also paid for by the Rotary Club. That coverage also reduces the town’s future cost of landscape maintenance for the roundabout.”
The sculpture was designed so that it would meet height and obstruction requirements contained in the Ontario Ministry of Transportation’s guidelines for roundabout construction. The roundabout was constructed by local contractor Facca Inc. and opened to traffic on Nov. 15, although the official Rotary launch will wait until this spring.
“We’ll be responsible for the maintenance of the wheel itself,” says Wheeler.
“It’s substantial at more than 1,000 lbs. of powder-coated stainless steel, bolted to the base with tamper-free bolts. It’s substantial enough that you would need a crane to move it, although we feel that in such a well-lit and heavily traveled area, nobody’s going to try.”
Roundabout sponsorship is a well-developed revenue tool in the United Kingdom, where the traffic feature is far more commonplace.
Keegan Ford Sponsorship in Tonbridge, U.K. operates a seasoned sponsorship program for roundabouts. The company introduces potential sponsors to an extensive list of roundabouts available for sponsorship in a variety of communities, and then helps them to develop branding and designs suitable for that location. The company’s managing director, Mark Barfoot, notes that the funds are generally used to finance roundabout maintenance or to enhance general revenue.
“Often it’s a combination of the two in order to best satisfy both requirements,” he says.
The Rotary Club of Windsor-St. Clair is now challenging other clubs to popularize roundabout sponsorship in the province.
“Our experience is that stainless steel is both cost-effective and durable,” says Wheeler.
“We expect the sculpture to be there for decades. Having gone through the manufacturing process, we’re happy to offer assistance to other clubs.”
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