Allan Appel Photo
Layne & DeGray cart away the benches, en route to repairs.
If you want to have a seat or enjoy a siesta in Wooster Square on one of these fine, brisk, winter afternoons, you’ll have to settle for the grass, or a rock, or one of the limited places at the DeLauro Family Table on the northern end of the stately park.
That’s because all 22 of the metal and wood benches gracefully arranged on the park’s walkways have been removed for restoration.
Murphy with one of the remaining damaged benches.
The benches are to reappear with their metal frames recoated and the broken wood slats all replaced with tough and durable ipe wood.
The plan is for that to happen in time for the annual spring Cherry Blossom Festival, prophesied Charlie Murphy, Historic Wooster Square Association‘s (HWSA) secretary, who has been involved in the two-year effort to raise the funds for the restoration.
Wednesday afternoon workers from Concrete Creations on Chapel Street were removing the benches in groups of six, and knocking out the anchor bolts (pictured), against walkers’ tripping.
Funding for the restoration was privately raised by HWSA to the tune of $30,000. Individuals and families “purchased” benches for $1,500 or half benches in exchange in most instances for also receiving a plaqued dedication, which will a be added to the benches when they are reinstalled.
The benches, dating from the mid 1980s, were built by the Bench Manufacturing Company of Woodstock, Vermont, which is no longer in business. Weather, wear and tear, age, and vandalism have taken their toll
“Neighbors and families who have connections [with the park] were eager to participate,” Murphy said.
About $28,500 of the money raised has been given to the city, which put the job out to bid; Fair Haven-based Concrete Creations won the contract. The remaining money will be used for the plaque-ing material.
The plaques are to be an aluminum alloy, of no value for scrap metal recycling, said Murphy, with reference to a past city epidemic of copper and brass thefts.
The benches, all eight feet long except for one six-footer, will be restored at Concrete Creations on Chapel Street. Two staffers, Alex Layne and Nelson DeGray, vowed to have all the benches out of the park by the end of the day Wednesday so the restoration can begin.
According to HWSA’s release, the benches will be brought back to “that like-new condition, the existing historic bench frames sandblasted down to bare metal, receive a zinc-rich primer coat and be finished with a very durable black powder coat. The wood slats will be replaced with new ipe wood and fastened with all stainless steel hardware.”
The effort was launched about two years ago by longtime Wooster Square resident and HWSA founder Beverly Carbonella. She and her husband John Cassidento had been instrumental in restoring the Italian consulate building in the 1970s and helping to launch HWSA as the city’s first historic district.
She wanted to see this project to its conclusion, but she died in May. “It was her dream,” said Peter Webster, an HWSA board member.
At the Cherry Blossom Festival, April 24, the intersection of Court Street and Academy Street is to be officially named “Bev’s Corner.”
Parks are a necessary feature in cities and Wooster Sq. is a gem.
The Dwight/Hill/ West River neighborhoods need a Wooster Sq. type park to alleviate the effects of 2 major polluting roads, provide access to trees and grass, act as a gathering place for residents and be a part of healing the scar that is Route 34 that destroyed a viable neighborhood and isolated neighbors from each other.
Federal funds were supposed to be used to re-design the area.
I see nothing but more isolated buildings that do nothing for the neighborhoods involved.
Where is the city official with a vision and a commitment to doing the right thing?