Jemison Park adds new tables, benches

The Friends of Jemison Park have upgraded some the picnic tables and benches for the hundreds of people who walk through Jemison Park every week.

President of Friends of Jemison Park Sim Johnson said the wood for the project was purchased from Alasaw, a local company that uses salvaged wood from downed trees. According to Leigh Spencer with Alasaw, salvaged wood differs from reclaimed wood in that “it hasn’t had a job as lumber before. It’s literally wood that would have been going to the landfill.”

The wood — which came from a cypress tree in Bent Brook Golf Course in Bessemer — was used to recreate three smaller picnic tables and benches, as well as one large picnic table. 

Everything is located in the park, with the majority of the tables and benches near Guilford Road, said Brandon Plowden, who owns Good Fences of Alabama. He volunteered to oil and prepare the wood before installing it in early July. If taken care of, he estimated the wood should have a lifespan of about 15-20 years.

Plowden also said the Department of Parks and Recreation helped create a stone base under the large table, so patrons are sitting above a patio instead of dirt. Both Plowden and Spencer agreed that using salvaged wood is both a conservation and community piece for the area.

“Those trees [used as salvage] are valuable to the community, and people have enjoyed them, some of them for 100, 200 years,” Spencer said.

And from this, Plowden said he hopes to develop a “catalyst to create an ongoing program with Alasaw [and the city]” for conservation and sustainability.