photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Jeff Hamm and a crew from Hamm Companies donated labor and materials to rebuild the Wishing Bench at Ninth and Delaware streets after it was destroyed by fire on Aug. 15, 2021. Their finished product — complete with a new wheelchair ramp — is pictured Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021. A dedication and decoration ceremony for the bench has been scheduled for Sept. 25.

Updated at 5:15 p.m. Thursday

Jeff Hamm has an office just west of the Wishing Bench in East Lawrence. Like many, he was saddened to wake up on Aug. 15 to discover that the quirky little landmark had been consumed by an overnight fire that destroyed much of the structure and all of the whimsical decorations that passersby had contributed over the years.

“I knew that was an iconic part of East Lawrence,” he said, and, being a builder, his next thought was, “I’d love to rebuild it.”

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Workers from Hamm Companies donate labor and materials Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021, to rebuild the Wishing Bench at Ninth and Delaware streets. The iconic East Lawrence bench was destroyed by fire Aug. 15.

So Hamm, a vice president at Hamm Companies, discussed the idea with the East Lawrence Neighborhood Association, then put together a team of Hamm employees to resurrect the beloved structure — which he thinks originated about 15 years ago as a prototype bus stop —  at the intersection of Ninth and Delaware streets.

Hamm donated all the labor and materials for the effort, and bright and early Thursday morning nearly a dozen men in yellow construction vests were at the site — removing ruined boards, taking measurements and preparing the foundation.

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Jeff Hamm, a vice president with Hamm Companies, kneeling at bottom right, put together a team of Hamm employees Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021, to rebuild the Wishing Bench, which was ruined by fire on Aug. 15.

The team planned to leave some of the upright pieces that give the structure much of its character. Though they’re charred, leaving them in place is a recognition of what the bench endured in the fire and how it sprang back to life, Hamm said. They also planned to add a wheelchair ramp so that the Wishing Bench would be accessible to everyone.

The new construction appeared to be finished late Thursday afternoon. An assortment of items that had recently decorated the bench — signs, pictures, flowers, lights — resumed their places. Other items had been removed for safekeeping at the home of KT Walsh, vice president of the East Lawrence Neighborhood Association. Those items will soon be back in place and will no doubt be joined by many more as passersby carry on the tradition — stretching back about a dozen years — of adding items to the bench.

Walsh told the Journal-World that the neighborhood was grateful for Hamm’s support.

Jeff Hamm is “about the most enthusiastic guy you could ever meet,” she said.

Walsh said that many people had donated funds to the Wishing Bench cause and that those funds would be used for any additional repairs and for a celebration on Sept. 25 to dedicate and decorate the bench. She said any leftover funds would be used toward public art in the neighborhood.

As the Journal-World previously reported, Tom Fagan, division chief with Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical, said the department responded to the fire at 3:31 a.m. Aug. 15. The Journal-World has reached out to the fire department concerning developments in its investigation and will provide details as they become available.

Below is a photo by Lawrence resident Tony Peterson taken before the fire. Peterson had been documenting the evolution of the bench for about a year before it was destroyed.

photo by: Tony Peterson

East Lawrence resident Tony Peterson has been documenting the Wishing Bench in the Warehouse Arts District for about a year. This is how the bench looked sometime before Sunday’s fire, although its appearance changed almost daily.