Hello and welcome,
Unfortunately, I have to agree with Wayfarer’s stance on memorial benches, and for a few reasons.
First, many are mass produced and look very the same in a similar area, like a park or plaza. The only different may be the plaque or name plate on the benches, noting who it’s in memorial to. I have seen some unique ones that aren’t mass produced; I recently had a review for one that was a memorial to a couple and featured cut-outs of playing cards in the metal, as they were regular card players. The art of the bench made it unique to explore, as all of the other benches in this park had different designs in the metal bench backs.
Second, many are purchased by family and/or friends as a remembrance to the person(s), and out of respect (if the person[s] have passed), it may not be best to have Wayspots at these benches. If the bench is just in memorial to someone’s mother, I’d rather be respectufl to that person who has passed and not have a Wayspot where a gym or Power Spot could pop up in PoGo and then have some rowdy people around it on during a raid or Max Mondays.
Third, most of the people weren’t of importance to the community. They just were residents and usually didn’t contribute in a significant way to where the bench is located. They have have regularly visited the area, but that doesn’t make someone a significant member of the community. Now, if the bench was in memorial of a former mayor, long-time educator, or other type of leader, donated the money to build the area up, etc, then those benches may meet criteria for the significance of the person.
I don’t know how many people will actually submit benches to this website, and even if a memorial bench is listed on it, it still might not be eligible. Just looking at where I live, there are no benches on this site, so it’s not a largely used site, IMO.