A collaboration between New Iberia’s Boy Scout Troop 133 and the Lil’ Brooklyn Neighborhood Initiative not only added more seating areas to Johnson Alley Park, but also helped to restore some derelict benches in the community.

Local Boy Scouts brought benches from the back of a pickup truck at Johnson Alley Park Wednesday morning and placed them inside the small park in Lil’ Brooklyn as part of the group’s community project.

Anne Darrah of the Lil’ Brooklyn Neighborhood Initiative said the project began about a year ago when she noticed many old benches at gas stations around New Iberia.

“Some of them are 30 years old and were those old advertising benches,” Darrah said. “I contacted the owner of one about a year ago and asked if I could have the bench for the park.”

The answer from the owner was a resounding “yes,” and after getting confirmation from the manager Darrah contacted Boy Scout Troop 133.

“We took some video of four kids lifting the concrete bases,” Darrah said. “It was a perfect project for these young people. The leaders taught them how to lift carefully and they actually repolished everything.”

Troop 133 representative Faryal Atif said Scoutmaster Johnathan Granger led the scouts in pressure washing the cement and refurbishing the bench.

“It was such a great learning experience for them,” Atif said. “I didn’t know how it would look but I knew it would turn out fantastic.”

Darrah said the project was not just about adding new benches to Johnson Alley Park. Getting rid of old equipment in the community was another aspect to it as well.

For the Boy Scouts, the project was part of the “Leave No Trace Behind” initiative, where the troop takes part in projects to clean the community.

“It’s part of a larger project where we see anything in the community that needs cleaning, we try to clean it,” Atif said.

Although the troop has around 40 boys, Atif said five Scouts volunteered for the bench project. That included Landon Mogerman, Bryan Real, Temur Alm, Jeremy Diaz and Jacob Helms.

“We tried to keep it with just them so they could see the whole thing out,” Atif said.

If local residents have similar ideas for projects for the Boys Scouts to work on, they are welcome to contact Troop 133, Atif said.

Johnson Alley Park is located in Lil’ Brooklyn in District 6, and has been part of a revitalization project to renovate and update the homes and community of Lil’ Brooklyn.

The park will also be getting more equipment relatively soon including a pavilion as part of a project from New Iberia City Councilman Dustin Suire.