Belleville Rotary Club donates a music garden to the city

By Liam Radford

BELLEVILLE – The Rotary Club of Belleville is donating an outdoor installation of music instruments to the city for the club’s 100th anniversary.

The club presented a plan to council during Monday’s meeting to put the donated instruments in a music garden in Riverside Park close to the Moira River. It asked that the city support the installation, add the Rotary wheel in a floral display and hang banners downtown to celebrate the 2020 centennial of the Belleville chapter.

At the meeting council approved the plan. 

The instruments in the music garden will be different types of drums and xylophones, said Bill MacKay, a Rotarian leading the initiative.

According to MacKay, they are suitable for all ages and accessible to those with disabilities, and made of heavy-gauge steel and aluminum attached to a concrete pad

The club bought the instruments from Percussion Play, a company that has produced installations for many parks in cities around the world, MacKay said.

MacKay said that the club will start installing the pieces within the next few weeks, and that the garden should be done by July. It is expected to last up to 20 years.

During the meeting councillor Chris Malette asked about how resistant to vandalism the equipment is. Council was told that the instruments were built to last, had everything needed bolted to them and were firmly attached to the concrete base.