Courtesy of Park Ridge Park District
The Park Ridge Park District Board of Commissioners voted unanimously last Thursday (Aug. 20) to allow the Rotary Club of Park Ridge to install a 7-foot “Peace Pole” on the east side of Hodges Park, approximately 30 feet from the fountain and 15 feet from the Vine Avenue sidewalk.
The Peace Pole Project is a global initiative that aims to literally spread the message of peace. Each pole features the message of “May Peace Prevail on Earth” in the primary language of the country where the pole is located, and 3-7 additional languages “meaningful to the host site.” For the Hodges Park pole, the pole will display the message in English, Spanish, Polish, Norwegian, Arabic, Japanese, Ukrainian, Potawatomi and Braille.
Once installed, the Park Ridge pole will stay up for 10 years. The club will be responsible for maintaining it, but the park district reserves a right to remove it if it becomes unsafe, too dangerous or “interferes with park operations.”
The peace poles originated in Japan in 1955 from Masahisa Goi, founder of Byakko Shinko Kai religious movement. The group believed that thoughts could affect reality, and a prayer for peace could bring about world peace. The message is the first line of that prayer.
In 1976, Byakko Shinko Kai adherents started putting up peace poles throughout Japan. In 1983, peace poles first went up in other countries.
Since 1988, the Peace Pole Project is spreadheaded by The World Peace Prayer Society, the Wassaic, NY, successor to Byakko Shinko Kai.
Rotary International has been working with its chapters to help build peace poles, including creating a standard design — a four-sided rectangular pole made out of vinyl/PVC material. Each side will display the message in two languages and will include a Rotary international logo.
Terry Wolf, the park district’s Director of Buildings & Grounds, told the park board that the staff and Rotary Club discussed the location and settled on Hodges Park.
While none of the park commissioners had any issues with the pole itself, some of them questioned the proposed location. They wondered why it couldn’t go at the north end of the park, where it would be more visible.
“I was scratching my head at this location, because it’s such a positive message, and the pole would be so close to where people sit at the corner,” said Commissioner Laurie Mallin.
Wolf said that the staff considered that, but ultimately decided that “that end of the park already had a number of features there,” including a drinking fountain, a tree that functioned as a Christmas tree for the last few years, and the veterans memorial.
“So the location that we selected we still felt had visibility and incorporates it into the existing landscape bed that we’d be able to manage a little bit better,” Wolf said.
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