Fairfield  

 Sundial: 1126
State/Province:  Ohio Country:  USA
Dial Type:  Equatorial Dial Condition:  Excellent
  Latitude and Longitude: 39° 20.172' N  84° 31.598' W
Location:
  • The dial is located at the parking lot entrance on the west side of Jungle Jim's International Market, 5440 Dixie Hwy, Fairfield, OH 45014
 
Description:
  • This is a 10-foot (3m) equatorial sundial made of steel and painted green. Gold painted balls are located on the ends of the meridian and equatorial arcs. Following tradition, the gnomon is a rod with a decorative arrow and tail painted gold. The base includes a decorated plat holder with eight compass points and azimuth degrees marked in 10 degree increments and labeled every 30 deg. Both Roman numerals mark the hours from 6am to 6pm. Arabic numerals mark every third hour. The numerals and other details are vinyl graphics in gold and red.

    The dial was built 30 years ago in 1995 by Jim Tallman of Artisan Industrials (see photo #9) who now makes beautiful glass Spectra sundials. The sundial was originally made for Hotel Mexico while Jim worked as a senior designer for FX Studios who has the design project. "I had an integral part...in designing and building a lot of what you see around the front of the restaurant [photo #7]- and I made the rhino head blow smoke out of its nose during dining hours! Around the sundial were outdoor speakers playing tribal thumping music like "Enigma" (the band) and it was awesome after dark as everything including the fountain in the sundial was lighted." Lights from the fountain cast watery patterns upward onto the the sundial.

    The first Hotel Mexico was in Eastgate (photos 7,8,9). Sometime around 2000 they expanded to a second location and changed their name to Hotel Discovery. Jim made a duplicate big equatorial sundial for the new location, but without a central fountain. Then came their restaurant in the Mall of America in Minnesota, called Café Odyssey. But the whole enterprise failed, which is how Jungle Jim acquired one of the dials at auction and moved it to Fairfield. This sundial was featured in the game Pokemon Go as a place to find a reward (photos 10,11,12) when the game was being played using Jungle Jim's location back in 2016.

    During one of the dial refurbishments the "Ante Meridiem" was accidentally spelled "Anti Meridian", and it's been that way for the last 20 years. To be precise, the Latin should have read "Ante Meridiem" (Before Mid-Day") and "Post Meridiem" (After Mid-Day). And during the last 20 years the dial now points to about 38 degrees rather than the latitude at 39. Further, the dial may be misaligned from north.suggesting that the dial is treated as an outdoor ornament rather than an accurate functioning sundial.
 
General Information:Inscription:
  • Owner: Jungle Jim's International Market
  • The morning hours have "Anti Meridian" on the equatorial arc and correspondingly, the afternoon hours have "Post Meridian". To be fully correct, the Latin should read "Ante Meridiem" and "Post Meridiem".
  • Designer: Jim Tallman, now of Artisan Industrials
  • Builder: Jim Tallman, now of Artisan Industrials
  • Construction Date: 1995
 
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Last Revised: 2025-06-10 13:47