Mission Local published a profile today featuring “roller-skating engineer” Chris Duderstadt who has built 210 community benches over the past decade for fellow Inner Sunset residents to enjoy as part of the Public Bench Project.
Duderstadt, a retired machinist who ran a longtime business making custom tech and biotech machines, made his first bench in 1977 for a friend’s veterinary clinic. Since then, he’s worked on several other prototypes before landing on what he calls the “off the wall” design due to its slightly angled seat and backrest, which he found to be “comfortable for everyone.”
The first off the wall-style bench still sits on a steep hill near Ortega Street and 11th Avenue near where Duderstadt lived at the time. “I really like to put them on hills. If you’re going to hike up that hill, you need a place to rest,” Duderstadt told Mission Local.
See Mission Local’s post for a map detailing the various bench locations.
Image via Public Bench Project website
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