Man, the islands really do have the strongest bench game out there.
Ugljan island boasts a whole range of hand-made mosaic benches, and more impressive news come our way from Zlarin island, where the local residents have recently taken things into their own hands and built no less than thirty benches.
Part of the budget provided by the City of Šibenik was intended for new public infrastructure on Zlarin, but the locals had a great idea on how to make the most out of the funds. Instead of obtaining 10 new benches, a quantity they would have been able to cover with provided funds, they decided to venture into bench-building.
Antoni Biberica, president of the Municipal Board of Zlarin, explained why they opted for the impressive DIY project. "When you have little money and plenty of problems, you need to get creative with what money you've got. We have been given funds for public infrastructure by the City before, using them to renovate old and weathered benches; we've basically been running around for years, not managing to buy new urban equipment. When we asked around about the prices of new benches, we concluded 2500 kuna for one new bench would be too much to pay. We managed to get an excellent offer from Varaždin for the frames, and we bought the wooden material on our own, painted it and built the benches. Most of the work was done by three or four of us, while the painting process saw at least then people participating", said Biberica.
It was decided to install 10 benches at once, while the other 20 will get placed around town in spring, so they wouldn't get worn down over winter.
According to Biberica, they didn't really know what they were getting into. All the wood needed to be sawed by hand, then polished and painted with multiple coats. The feat took longer than expected, and had the locals working late into the night. "We worked for five or six hours a day in our spare time for more than ten days, so we ended up concluding those new benches really are worth 2500 kuna each", Biberica stated, laughing.
However, the project was worth it in the end, proving anything can be done when you set your mind to it. If you find yourself on Zlarin island, remember the benches were handcrafted with a lot of enthusiasm and hard work, so make sure to pay tribute to the locals by taking a break on a bench... and send us a photo for our Bench of the Week series.
Source: Šibenski portal
