Last year, the 13 wooden benches at Basin Park were renovated. To estimate the cost, Parks had Dustin Griffith take one of the benches and work on it. He reshaped the metal, powder coated it with Osage orange, finished the prototype, and knew what it would cost to do the other benches.
Parks Director Sam Dudley reached out to the Preservation Society, and they agreed to fund the renovations. As a thank you, Dudley had a plaque made and put on one bench. When townsfolk saw the work, several asked Dudley asking if they could dedicate benches.
Dudley saw an opportunity to raise funds for park improvements. The Parks Commission agreed and the remaining 12 benches went through a lottery selection. People asked to buy a bench, and if their names were chosen, they were allowed to claim however many benches they wanted and pay for them. Each bench’s cost for dedication was $1000. Those who won the lottery were The Unitarian Fellowship with one bench, Ruth Goodwin Hager, one bench; Marcia and Dan Runge, Sr., one bench; David Danvers, one bench, Darlene Cole, one bench; Susan Tremble one bench; and the Banks family of Kansas with six benches for different family members.
The plaques will be ordered and installed on the benches slowly, as the bench needs to go to a workshop and have a section routed down for the plaque to be fit in. Plaques have been ordered from a company in Florida, which is trying to meet orders after being hit with several hurricanes. The plaques are bronze, affixed with epoxy, and then returned to its place in the park. A bench with a plaque for the Preservation Society is already in the park, and a plaque was put on the newly restored Crystal Terrace Bridge.
Dudley and the Parks Commission plan to use the funds on improvements to Basin Park, with some money going to the project being done in conjunction with the CAPC to keep the fountain in good repair. They also hope to do work on the stairway leading from the gazebo, and would like to bring back a version of the original (and un-Zombified) Humpty Dumpty in the park. Parks is working with the Banks Family Foundation to plant trees in the park.
Dudley is considering dedications in the future at other parks. He is also excited for a new project underway at Lake Leatherwood with the USDA to plant new trees, possibly including planting the long-thought extinct Ozark chinquapin.