Crafting Connections: Minneapolis Man Makes It His Mission To Address Lack Of Public Seating

For someone who spends his day crafting virtual connections, Tom Saunders believes his newest project can help facilitate more human connections.

Notice something different?

At least one group of Minneapolis resident did — and they're not taking the issue sitting down.

Walk into Tom Saunders' south Minneapolis garage and immediately you’ll be buffeted by the odor of fresh-cut wood and the constant hum of a table saw. Saunders, an I.T. professional by day, leaned into woodworking during the height of the 2020 pandemic.

“I just love, you know, touching it," Saunders said. "The smell of different woods, shaping it... and I think, you know, when you work with software or digital things, after two or three years, they're out of date, you know? No one ever uses them again. I like the idea of creating something that's going to be around for a long time.”

It was that sentiment that led Saunders to his latest project, what he calls the “Minneapolis Public Seating Authority.”

With help from his girlfriend and other family members, Saunders' group has been constructing and placing benches around Minneapolis to address what Saunders sees as a lack of public seating around downtown Minneapolis.

“The Minneapolis Public Seating Authority believes that seating for all is an important component of a thriving, interesting, accessible, and safe downtown,” reads a statement on the group's website.

Arguably, the disparity is most apparent on Minneapolis’ Nicollet Mall. Other than bus shelters along the mall, public seating is hard to come by. KARE 11 cameras even documented benches and other public seating areas along the mall chained up and fenced off.

"You will notice a deliberate lack of places to sit,” Saunders said. “I think it just needs to be welcoming for people to be there and know not everyone is super able-bodied and just, having a place to sit down and rest for a bit before you go on to your next stop.”

So far, Saunders and his group have placed four benches around the city, most in the core of downtown and one in north Minneapolis. When KARE 11 visited Saunders in his garage earlier this month, he was busy working on a fifth.

Leaning into his technology background, Saunders has also equipped each of his benches with tracking devices so he can keep tabs on their location in real-time.

For Tom, someone who spends his day crafting virtual connections, he believes by placing these benches around the city he can help facilitate more human connections.

“I feel like... if you share a bench with someone, then it might be harder to yell at them in the same way that you might [on] the internet.”

If you’d like to learn more about Saunders and his project, visit the campaign's website.

SOURCE: KARE 11