Orlando parks feature unique furniture
Bike paths, swing sets and restrooms are usually the first items to be upgraded in a recreation area. But in Orlando, Fla., Mayor Glenda Hood has made it a priority to improve the chairs. The city is in the middle of an ambitious plan to improve neighborhood and community parks, and as a result, its park furniture has been upgraded.
One of the first parks to receive new furniture, Big Tree Park is named for an enormous 500-year-old live oak located in the park. In public discussions, neighborhood residents indicated that they wanted the focus to remain on the tree. Standard benches would not be consistent with the environmental theme, so the city hired Central Florida chainsaw artist Mark Rice, who transformed donated diseased tree stumps into animal-shaped furniture.
Loch Haven Park also has received new chairs. The park sits between two of Orlando’s most prestigious cultural buildings – the Orlando Science Center and the Orlando Museum of Art. Because the area is a cultural center, the city wanted the park to be pedestrian friendly and to serve as a gathering place for families. Following a public meeting, in which neighborhood residents and representatives from cultural organizations tested a variety of chairs, the city chose citrus-colored Adirondack chairs to complement the pastoral setting of the park.
Orlando’s examples of unique park furniture are in tune with the city’s dedication to making area parks gathering places where people can enjoy public greenspace. The city also has installed marble benches in Constitution Green Park and plans to install new furniture in Ben White Park.
