The benches can be found in downtown Waupaca on Main Street, ouside of the courthouse on Harding Street, and at the Chain Exploration Center on Silver Lake Drive. 

Benches Brighten Waupaca Downtown Community
Waupaca Foundry and Alliance Industries jointly rallied around its local community to provide beautiful, functional park benches for the City of Waupaca as part of its Main Street Project renovation.

Our Community Commitment
The Waupaca Area Chamber Foundation’s “Build a Better Main Street'' initiative set out to bring new life and energy to Downtown Waupaca, Wisconsin. One pressing need in the renovation process was finding new benches for Main Street.

Waupaca Foundry is not only a global leader in the supply and machining of gray and ductile iron castings, but also a sustainable partner in the communities it has operations. Waupaca Foundry Maintenance Manager for Buildings and Grounds, Jerry Deuman, who also serves as the City’s volunteer Fire Chief, spotted an opportunity to embody this mission when it came to designing and donating these benches for the city.

Bringing the Idea to Life
Deuman connected Michael Hemmila, Plant Manager at Plant 2/3, with the Director of Public Works, Justin Berrens and City Administrator, Aaron Jenson to solve the bench problem.

Steven Nygaard, tooling manager, and Jeffery Barden, tooling layout, adjusted an existing pattern for the arms of the bench into a custom design for the City of Waupaca.

Once the pattern was complete, the iron casting bench arms were produced at Plant 2/3. Alliance Industries, a partner of Waupaca Foundry for decades, generously donated its powder coating services to the City for this project.

While Alliance coated the bench arms, Waupaca Foundry sourced, stained, and cut the wood for the benches. Finally, Howard Inderdal, Charles Slater, Lewellyn Drefahl, and Jerry Deuman then assembled the parts to complete the benches.

Finished Benches are Beautiful and Functional 
“Build a Better Main Street” wrapped up in November 2021, including 13 new park benches located in the downtown and riverfront district. WF also created additional benches for the courthouse and the Chain Exploration Center school in the School District of Waupaca.

By working with the local community and businesses, the City of Waupaca saved $25,000 and received beautiful, brand-new benches for its renovation and restoration project.