The Rise and Fall of Lions International City
A steady growth of worldwide chartered clubs was causing some growing pains for Lions International and space constraints dictated either a new headquarters or a major expansion of the present.
In 1949, it was to be neither. An overly ambitious project launched by Melvin Jones with full approval of the Board of Directors resulted with some acreage purchased in secret so the price of the land would not skyrocket. Soon plans would be revealed that a “Dream City” was in the making, and by coincidence or not, it was to be located about two miles from Flossmoor, where Melvin Jones made his home. The Lions HQ was about 27 miles to the north in Chicago.
With construction slated to start in 1950, the land was being surveyed and several firms of architects had been consulted. The goal was to have about 400 acres at a cost of nearly $500,000. The purchase was the result of eight months of negotiations by “Liondom, Inc.”, a real estate corporation set up for that purpose.
To be known as “Lion International City,” the model community would eventually have 10,000 residents with members of the Lions of the Chicago area being invited to move to the site. Melvin proudly proclaimed that the project “isn’t any vision or dream city. It got out of the dream stage long ago, and was always more than a gleam in the architect’s eye. It’s going up, and soon.”
Lions HQ would remain in downtown Chicago until its’ lease expired in 1951. So the first project on the site would be the building of the new HQ. Plans also include space for new offices, storage facilities, a post office, library, motels for visitors, a hotel with dining rooms, hospitals, schools, colleges, churches, a printing plant, and a senior citizen home. The envisioned cemetery would be known as the “Garden of Memories”. To help facilitate the financing, Mr. Jones announced that 1,000 of the present 7,454 clubs in 26 countries were raising $1,000 each to help build the model town. At least $38,000 was voluntarily contributed soon after announcement of the project.
With Lions International set to hold its 1950 convention in Chicago, the directors intended to have something to show delegates and guests. Earlier, Eugene S. Briggs, the Lions International president, had termed it “one of Melvin’s greatest contributions to Lionism.” But it was not to be. With con-tributions and financing drying up, a terse announcement was forthcoming that the project was to be terminated and the land to be ultimately sold.
Melvin Jones announced his retirement at the Chicago Convention and was afforded his title, ‘Secretary-General’, for life. R. Roy Keaton, who had been Melvin’s second-in-command for a number of years, took over total control of operations with the new title, ‘Director-General.’ As a side note, the first Lions Club established in Europe was Stockholm, Sweden, in 1948, and it was Mr. Keaton that made it possible. l
For more on R. Roy Keaton, ‘The Texans’ page will provide more on this remarkable man. Texas proved to be fertile territory for the establishment and rapid expansion of Lions Clubs, and Mr. Keaton himself was responsible for organizing FORTY-THREE of these clubs in Texas . The Lone Star State produced a large number of dedicated Lions leaders who devoted much of their lives to making Lions Clubs International the great service organization that we enjoy today. They truly served.