Room 711 Room 711 of the Unity Building at 127 North Dearborn Street in downtown Chicago, Illinois, was the site of Rotary's first meeting on February 23, 1905.  At that time, it was the office of Gustavus Loehr, a mining engineer and one of the founding members of the organization. Around 1980, the Rotary Club of Chicago, the club that originated from that gathering, set about to preserve the site.  It rented the room and undertook an extensive effort to recreate the office as it existed in 1905.  For several years, the club maintained the room as a shrine for visiting Rotarians. The Paul Harris 711 Club, a nonprofit organization comprising Rotarians from around the world, eventually assumed that responsibility.  In 1989, when the Unity Building was scheduled to be demolished, the 711 Club carefully dismantled the office, salvaging the original interior from doors to radiators.  Everything was placed in storage until a permanent place to reconstruct the room could be found.  In 1993, the Board of Directors of Rotary International set aside space for it on the 16th floor of the RI World Headquarters in Evanston, Illinois.