Main Street benches to be stained
By Patrick Parkinson, Of the Record staff
When he approached the Park City Council and mayor about the idea, he said the response was somewhat comical.
Park City resident Kellen McAffee said he recently told the governmental body he would like to clean and stain several benches on Main Street for free.

"Our project is about giving to the city skills that we hone in our daily work, McAffee said.

He added that Park City Mayor Dana Williams joked that he thought an individual must first get arrested before volunteering to do a service project.

"We plan to bring the benches into the overall aesthetic fold of Main Street. Bright, maintained, colorful, he added. "We want to create an inviting place for people to sit.

McAffee said one city councilor said she was "flabbergasted by his proposal to rehabilitate the wooden benches on Main Street.

OTHER ARTICLES IN THIS SECTION
9/3/2003
- Police say Gayler attempted suicide in jail
- Egyptian Theatre moves ahead

"The fact that one can sit down on a bench on Main Street without being bombarded with noise from traffic and stereos, exhaust and a constant feeling of being thought of as a lesser, car-less person or sized up by other street people for how much cash we might be carrying is unique to Park City, he said. "There are few places in this state that one can enjoy such a community aesthetic while sitting in public on a bench, while doing absolutely nothing.

McAffee and his wife Nancy, plan to stain about eight benches on Main Street this week a chore he suggested, needed to be accomplished, when he moved to Park City a few months ago.

"There's nothing protecting them, McAffee said, adding that amid the historical and artistic nature of Main Street "a bunch of gray, old, weather-beaten benches don't belong.

He plans to clean the benches and then stain them various colors. McAffee said the city was cooperative in approving the project.

"The benches on Washington Boulevard in Ogden require serious bravery in terms of safety and personal cleanliness in order to sit down, he said, adding that Salt Lake City's street benches aren't much better. "Only in Park City may one sit on a bench and feel like they are part of the inter-workings of the street.

McAffee owns a small business in Park City and says he plans to do a service project each year, in conjunction with the business. For more information, contact McAffee at (801) 791-9522.

http://www.parkrecord.com/Stories/0,1413,122%257E8138%257E1606413,00.html