Village, Rotary to install clock in downtown Bartlett

A four-sided post clock is set to be installed this summer in downtown Bartlett, the result of a donation agreement between the village and Rotary Club.

The village board unanimously approved plans to put the 16-foot-tall clock on the corner of the village-owned piece of the Town Center property at the corner of Railroad Avenue and South Main Street, near the train station. A drinking fountain purchased by the Rotary Club of Bartlett is on the site.

"We expect that clock to be standing for a long time," club member and village Trustee Kristina Gabrenya said.

Public clocks are an "international Rotary tradition," club member Suzie Sias said.

Sias said Rotary worked with the Verdin Company, an organization that has designed Rotary clocks for other clubs, for a design that reflects Bartlett's downtown and fits with the village's plan for a "walkable community." The board packet said clocks in public locations "create a focal point and gathering place" for the community.

The club has raised the $20,000 down payment for the $37,000 project, Sias said. For the balance, the club will be selling plaques to be displayed on the side of the clock tower.

Rotary members will have the first chance to purchase the plaques, followed by the chamber of commerce and general public.

Rotary member James Barr said he brought the clock proposal forward a year ago when the group was considering community projects. But Barr credits the original idea to fellow Rotarian and former Bartlett mayor Bill Tiknis, who died in 2017.

"It was his vision 10 years ago," Barr said.

Barr said an artist's rendering helped people envision how the clock will look.

"We hope it becomes a historic landmark," he said.