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Needham trust fund advances two bench dedications, schedules Select Board review
Summary
The Town of Needham Revitalization Trust Fund discussed two bench dedication submissions — one at Heights Common and one along the Amity Path — and reported a recently installed granite bench; the committee approved its December minutes by voice vote.
The Town of Needham Revitalization Trust Fund on Jan. 23 discussed two new bench dedications that are set to appear on the Select Board agenda and confirmed that a previously ordered granite bench has been installed at the Amity Path.
At the start of the meeting the committee approved its Dec. 2024 minutes by voice vote. Committee members then reviewed two bench requests that were submitted in December but not yet placed on the Select Board agenda.
One submission is for a celebration bench to be placed on Heights Common in Needham Heights. The donor identified the bench as the “Ellen Soderholm” bench and asked that it be dedicated to her mother; the plaque will recall the mother’s habit of watching the train arrive. The committee said the new bench will replace an existing blank bench on the common; the Trust Fund will reallocate that blank bench elsewhere. The committee described the bench material as Ipe (a dense, rot-resistant hardwood) and said the vendor build and delivery time for a custom Ipe bench is typically about nine to ten weeks. The committee plans to order the bench after the Select Board acts.
The second submission is a memorial bench sponsored by Tom Leary, identified in committee remarks as a former Needham police chief, to be placed on the Amity Path near the Needham Reservoir parking-lot ramp. That bench will include an inlaid plaque and — because the wood option is no longer available from the supplier — the donor will use a composite bench whose color closely matches the existing path benches. The Trust Fund is arranging concrete footings and a contractor to install the bench; committee members said installation will include minor landscaping at the ramp terminus so the bench faces toward the parking lot to allow people waiting for a ride to see incoming vehicles.
Committee members also reported that a carved granite bench dedicated to Catherine Booney’s mother was installed recently at the Amity Path after dredging and related site work were completed; the DPW installed that bench once the site was ready. Meeting remarks noted the installation is near a newly created connector path from DiFazio Field to the Amity Path, and that the granite bench carries an inscription that reads “you are the gift.”
No formal Select Board action on the two new bench submissions had been taken at the time of the meeting; the items were scheduled to be presented to the Select Board for final placement approval. The Trust Fund said its volunteers (identified in the meeting as Eric and other committee members) will assemble and place the benches after delivery and Select Board approval.
A meeting participant asked whether there were questions; none were raised. The committee moved on to other agenda items.
