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Concrete benches bedeck Memorial Park

Nothing beats a couple of hours at the park, but for those who need a break, a park bench is a welcome sight as is a functioning swimming pool to beat the summer heat.

These are among improvements to be seen at Memorial Park and soon at Shaw Place Park in the city's East End.

A recent donation of benches -- made entirely from concrete but resembling old barn wood on the seat -- created by Pennsylvania College of Technology's ConCreate Design Club is among the additions to be noticed at these parks.

Additionally, the park's pool is in the restoration process, with experts working on electrical components this week.

The Penn College club members joined municipal Department of Public Works employees recently for installation of three benches in Memorial Park, the culmination of a year-long civic-improvement enterprise.

"The donation of the park benches is greatly appreciated," said Slaughter, who recently visited the park as the crew was completing its work.

"The benches look fantastic and add a very nice touch to our parks," Slaughter said.

He lauded the college's Concrete Science Technology department.

"On behalf of the city, I would like to thank the students for their diligence and time spent on constructing the benches.

"I look forward to our continued relationship with the club and Penn College as a whole."

The ConCreate Design Club began a bench project as an idea last spring, after the club had already completed several community-based projects, according to Harrison Wohlfarth, who serves as co-president of the student organization and is an applied technology studies major and a 2020 graduate of the college's building construction technology program.

"During that time, the club was finding its identity as not only a concrete science educator, but also a community leader," Wohlfarth told the Penn College magazine PCToday, in which Tom Wilson, staff writer, featured the park bench project.

He and other club officers decided to continue in that direction, agreeing to provide the city with seven concrete benches for placement in local parks.

One more bench will be delivered to Memorial Park, while three are destined for Shaw Place this fall once a "Splash Pad" there is finished.

Further groundwork began in autumn, with help from first-year students in the program.

Freshmen and Wohlfarth poured all the legs and bench tops that were needed for a potential city donation.

Outside of the lab, contact was made with the mayor's office toward the end of the Fall 2021 semester.

A meeting was arranged and soon afterward the administration and City Council accepted the donation attended by Wohlfarth and Madison Kistler.

Kistler, from Kutztown, is the club's other co-president and will graduate this month in concrete science technology and applied technology studies, having earned a degree in surveying technology last year, the college magazine article stated.

This spring, the club wrapped up the fabrication phase and moved into assembly, the latter proving to be more of a challenge than realized.

"Certain dimensions were not as exact as they should have been, as the wooden forms were slightly warping, so re-dimensioning set us back quite a bit. After a few defects here and some cracked bench legs there, the project is finally up to quality," Wohlfarth told the magazine.

It's a lesson that is emblazoned on the back of the club's T-shirts: "We succeed by trowel and error."

"What I've learned, as most people know, is that it takes a bit more time and planning to do something right. To do something both the right way and for the first time, however, requires an unpredictable amount of patience and time," Wohlfarth stated.

"That, in a nutshell, is what this project has been about. It's what all our projects are about. Learning from our experiences while helping the community. That's about as meaningful as an experience gets."

He, Kistler and club member Lily D. Ward, a civil engineering technology student from Williamsport, were on hand for the delivery and installation of the first three benches.

And the students' work was quickly met with good reviews from City Hall, both for its craft and for the conscientious attention to detail.

Today, concrete science technology is in demand and the college has a degree program that has its students analyze the properties of concrete, explore admixture techniques and learn which type is best suited for the job at hand.

Touted as one of its kind on the East Coast, this industry-driven major pulls together science, technology, and construction to deliver the specialized skills that employers need.

For cities such as Williamsport, these partnerships not only provide real world work experience but they benefit the city and its residents and visitors.