My local park has a $15,000 bench and I cant get over it

Was walking through Riverside Park yesterday and noticed a plaque on a bench saying it was donated for $15,000. I looked it up later on the city parks website, and yeah, that's the actual price for a basic wooden bench with a nameplate. For that much money, you could buy a used car or pay half a year's rent in my city. I get wanting to honor someone, but does a bench really need to cost that much? Has anyone else looked into park donation prices and been shocked?

2 comments

2 Comments

lee8474d ago

Wait, is that the price for a brand new bench or does it include some kind of maintenance fund too? Because $15k for a piece of wood with a name on it seems INSANE unless they're planning to polish it with gold leaf every week. My buddy tried to donate a bench in his dad's name at a park in Brooklyn and they quoted him $12k but then hit him with a $2k "administrative fee" on top of that. Did yours mention any extra hidden costs like that?

wade8714d ago

Oh man that Brooklyn story is exactly what I was worried about. They quoted me $15k flat but I dug into the fine print and there was a $1,500 "endowment fee" they tried to sneak in for future maintenance. I called them on it and they said oh that's optional but then the bench wont get cleaned or repaired after like 5 years. So basically you pay extra or your bench turns into a pigeon perch. My park had a whole list of optional add-ons too like engraved stone plaque vs wood ($800 more) and different wood types that cost extra. Felt like buying a car.