Belmont staff outlines plan and funding tiers for 2026 centennial celebration

Belmont Parks and Recreation Director Britt Shearer told the City Council on April 22 that the city is actively planning Belmont’s 100th birthday celebration in 2026 and has finalized a centennial brand that will appear on banners, pins and other materials across town.

Shearer said a steering committee made up of herself, a member identified only as Josie and Communications Director Elizabeth Sakres meets regularly to plan the celebration and coordinate outreach. The centennial date is Oct. 20, 2026; staff said a signature event is planned for fall 2026 but the format — indoor or outdoor — has not been determined and will depend in part on the status of the City Hall campus detention basin project.

The centennial plan centers on three goals: a visible citywide brand, a single signature fall event around the Oct. 20 anniversary, and community-led activities. Shearer said the team has launched a public survey and held one-on-one interviews with longtime residents to collect historical materials and ideas. Staff also plans to curate historical articles, videos and oral histories on a dedicated web page (belmont.gov/100years) and to capture resident storytelling for a digital archive.

Staff outlined a range of proposed activities that would carry the centennial brand: tabling at existing city events (Celebrate the Music, the Water Dog Run, the trunk-or-treat), a possible community art project, storytelling recordings, a time capsule, selective repainting of decorative fire hydrants after coordination with Midpeninsula Water, and a land-acknowledgment project connected to Twin Pines Park. Shearer said a college intern will work on some of the research and outreach over the summer.

On funding, Shearer said the city will use a two-track approach: (1) a small community-led event grant program for residents and groups to request “nominal funding support,” and (2) a sponsorship and donation campaign. Staff reported a budget placeholder of approximately $10,000 in the next fiscal year to buy initial branding materials and begin outreach, and noted the city’s public art funds could be used for community art or indigenous-arts projects. Draft sponsorship tiers presented to the council are $1,000 (Emmett level), $2,500 (Cipriani), $5,000 (Ralston) and $10,000 (Centennial), with increasing recognition at each level.

Council members offered suggestions at the meeting. One council member encouraged staff to begin outreach to the school district now to engage schools in centennial activities; Shearer said the district has been notified but that detailed coordination is premature. Another councilmember urged creating a printed legacy book to supplement digital archives, noting concerns about long-term readability of digital formats; staff said the History Room already holds published materials and that multiple formats are under consideration. Council and staff also discussed volunteer recruitment and potential partnerships with local colleges and history organizations to document interviews with longtime residents.

Shearer asked residents to check belmont.gov/100years for updates and to use the online contact information to propose events or volunteer. The council did not take any formal action or vote on funding at the meeting; staff said the $10,000 marker is part of current budget planning and that future appropriation would come through the regular budget process.

Looking ahead, Shearer said staff will launch the sponsorship effort, open a simple online grant application for community-led events, finalize the format for the fall 2026 signature event by the end of the year (contingent on the detention basin project), and continue community outreach through city events and neighborhood festivals.