SHELBURNE FALLS — In good weather, people love sitting outdoors — even if it means perching on the steps of Memorial Hall or the stoop between Mocha Maya’s and the Village Restaurant.
But now, thanks to a new bench designed and donated by Ashfield Stone, pedestrians have one more place from which to watch the comings and goings of the village.
An 11½-foot-long bench was installed Tuesday morning in front of the Greenfield Cooperative Bank on Bridge Street by Ashfield Stone Co. co-owner Jerry Pratt and craftsman Brandon Osman.
The bench is made of crowsfoot schist, a metaphorphic gray stone that is estimated to be 500 million years old, said Johanna Pratt, co-owner of Ashfield Stone. The company has a quarry in the Ashfield-Hawley area and a large mill on Main Street in Shelburne Falls.
“The stone is from the core of ancient volcanoes that were here,” she said. “It’s been over a year in the making, off-and-on, and the design evolved. We wanted to seat a lot of people,” she said. “It’s very elegant. It invites people to sit and get a feel for a New England village. It’s for the village to enjoy.”
Jerry Pratt designed the bench, and Osman did much of the finish work, although it was worked on by all the crew, Johanna Pratt said.
“We had talked to the bank about doing this a long time ago,” she said.
Jane Trombi, branch manager and assistant vice president of the Shelburne Falls bank, said it was an exciting addition to the bank’s exterior, which already has Ashfield Stone trim. During the making of the feature film “The Judge” in 2013, the filmmakers put a temporary bench in front of the bank, and people liked sitting there.
“We’re thrilled to have a bench by the people, for the people, and we hope people will take advantage of it,” Trombi said.
When asked how much the bench was worth, Johanna Pratt said she couldn’t put a price on it, because it had been “a labor of love.” Besides the mortise-and-tenon-like construction, the bench rests on a stone base that corrects for the slope of the sidewalk beneath the bench, keeping its sitting surface level.
This is the second donation to the village from Ashfield Stone. A few years ago, Ashfield Stone created stone “movie stars” that have been attached to buildings that were filmed during the making of two feature movies: “Labor Day” in 2012 and “The Judge” in 2013.
Over the years, many local artists and crafters have made mosaics, signs, posters and other artwork that have become part of the fabric of this state-designated “Cultural District” village.