It’s About Time Ceremony Welcomes Sundial On Centennial Trail
Spokane’s newest public timepiece is solar-powered, self-winding and built to last for centuries. But it won’t tell you if you’re late for the dentist.
The clock - an interactive sundial made of granite and quartz - was an hour off Saturday. But blame it on daylight-saving time.
“Our true solar time doesn’t line up with a watch,” said its creator, Timothy Cunninghamm, a local author and inventor.
More than 300 people came to see the new Spokane landmark - a giant circle embedded in concrete along the Centennial Trail.
Located near Gonzaga University on the south bank of the Spokane River, the sundial and its opening ceremony drew more than 300 people.
It’s a gift to the community from the law firm of Preston Gates & Ellis LLP, an international law firm that opened in Spokane in 1981. As part of its 15th anniversary celebration, the firm donated $15,000 to build the sundial for Spokane.
”(The sundial) is a commitment to this community,” said Craig Trueblood, managing partner in the law firm’s Spokane office. “We wanted something that would last. … This will be here 100 years from now.”
It took about two years to design and build the sundial, a project that also involved many organizations including the Friends of the Centennial Trail.
It’s a circle with alternating black and white rays for the time of day, and five stainless steel discs in the middle for the months of the year. It sort of works like a clock: Depending on the month, you would stand on one of the discs and where your shadow falls would show the time of day.
It wasn’t an easy process for the designer. The numbers on a watch may be evenly spaced, but it’s different on a sundial, Cunninghamm explained.
To figure out the alignment, Cunninghamm garnered help from a mathematician and Eastern Washington University’s physics department.
“I feel relieved it’s done,” he said. “When I aligned it with the north star, I had to thank my angels.”
While children made their own sundials using paper plates, glitter and glue, adults celebrated the new landmark by forming their own circle in a Happy Dance organized by members of the Spokane Tribe.
“It’s an honor for us to be here,” said Robert Sherwood, an elder who noted that his tribe’s name - Spokane, or “Children of the Sun” - was given to his people by white settlers. “But we didn’t worship the sun.”
After the noon dedication, Sherwood and other Spokane Indians began to chant and play the drum. Four other Indians slowly danced around the circle to the “Chief Song,” music that honors Native Americans hanged near Latah Creek in 1858.
“We just came to enjoy (the sundial),” said Darla Johnson of Spokane, who brought her niece and nephew. “It’s something that’s hardly used anymore. It’s a neat educational tool.”
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo