MONTAGUE — There’s a colorful new addition outside the Shea Theater Arts Center on Avenue A.
It’s called a solar bench. Its main features are six USB plugs for charging cellphones and other electronic devices, and an electronic message board that will be used to publicize town meetings and local events. The fixture also has ergonomically curvy benches on either side.
The solar bench was installed Tuesday morning, and is in a trial phase for Montague. The trial is sponsored by Laudable Productions, the Florence-based creative agency that produced the Barbes in the Woods music festival this summer. After a period of up to a month, the Selectboard will decide whether to keep the bench, according to Cassandra Holden of Laudable Productions.
“I think their interest is in interesting us in it in the long-term,” said Town Administrator Steve Ellis. “I don’t know that we have that interest, but it will be very interesting to see it.”
Selectboard Chair Rich Kuklewicz noted that the message board could be particularly useful for the town.
The message board is a black and white “e-ink” screen, which looks like a giant e-reader. The screen uses less power than an LCD screen and is easier to read, according to Solstreet, the company that makes the benches.
In terms of its power consumption, the whole unit is totally self-contained. All of its electricity comes from a solar panel, so it is not connected to the ground by any wires.
If the town likes the solar bench, there is an option to keep it for free in exchange for splitting revenues from the solar bench’s ad space with Solstreet, said Lisa Smith of Solstreet. Or, the town can rent the bench or buy it outright, which would cost about $25,000 to $30,000, Smith said.
The same solar bench was recently in Easthampton for about a month, Holden said. Easthampton used it to publicize meetings and other local events, as Montague likely will, she said. The bench works well for things like that because it is more easily accessible than the town’s website, which is where Montague’s meetings are normally publicized, Holden added.
“This is a very democratic way of presenting that information,” she said.
Reach Max Marcus at mmarcus@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 261.