About a decade ago, the swimming pool project was up against the wire. Construction bids had been returned, and — much to the dismay of the Underwood Pool Building Committee — there was a $388,000 shortfall.
“I was a volunteer working on [raising money for] the pool,” recalled Ellen Schreiber. “The first place we went was to the bank, and they were incredibly supportive. “[The Belmont Savings Bank Foundation] voted to make a $200,000 matching grant, and [the building committee] did a big fundraising campaign.”
In just three weeks, the money needed to cover the shortfall was raised.
“We accepted the contract, and we built the pool,” said Schreiber, who now serves as programming director for the Belmont Savings Bank Foundation. “With [the foundation’s] matching grant, they turned something that was scary and not fun into a real celebration for the town.”
“We made it happen,” recalled Pat Brusch, one of the four people on the Belmont Savings Foundation’s Board of Directors.
Until this week, that grant was among the largest offered by the Belmont Savings Foundation, which supports not-for-profit groups, institutions, schools and other organizations. At a Select Board meeting Monday night, the foundation awarded the town two grants: $1 million toward the municipal skating rink and $2 million toward the library project.
Select Board Chair Elizabeth Dionne commended the foundation, noting it was one of the largest, if not the largest, philanthropic donations the town has received.
“We’re not just giving money to a library; we’re not just giving money to a rink,” Schreiber said. “We’re giving money to a dream that people have had for a really long time. These facilities needed to be built.”
Leaving a Legacy
Belmont Savings Bank was founded in 1885 as a mutual savings bank, and the Belmont Savings Bank Foundation began in 2011. Since 2011, the foundation has donated $4 million — which includes the recent library and rink donations — supporting a number of local projects, large and small. Its first grant went to the Butler Elementary School playground, which was in dire need of repair at the time.
“One of the problems was it was part of the school property as opposed to town property,” explained Brusch, who was one of the two original board members of the foundation. “The schools needed money for teachers and other things, so it never was the first thousand things we needed.”
A group of parents organized an effort to apply for a grant from the Belmont Savings Bank Foundation.
Originally, the foundation — which started with $2 million in seed funding — served Belmont and its four neighboring communities: Waltham, Watertown, Newton, and Cambridge. When the bank was acquired by the People’s United Bank at the end of the decade, that changed.
In an unusual turn of events, the bank leadership and foundation leadership agreed the Belmont Savings Bank Foundation would remain independent, meaning it could continue to serve Belmont and Belmont organizations. From that point on, the foundation’s focus narrowed solely to Belmont. It also pivoted to offering larger grants.
According to Brusch, the foundation contributes annually to the Foundation for Belmont Education; they also have contributed to the police station building project, the Veterans Memorial, and most, if not all, of the playground renovations.
“We want a broad impact,” she said, speaking to how grants are considered and awarded. “Something that was very narrowly focused that would only impact a few people was not going to make the cut.”
In the case of the library and rink projects, it was a multi-year process, ensuring all the necessary steps were completed.
In November 2022, Belmont voters approved a debt exclusion of $34.5 million for the library, and community donations accounted for an extra $5 million. The $34.5 million includes design fees, construction costs, contingencies, and temporary needs (relocating library services, for example).
“It was enormously impactful in reducing the debt exclusion,” said Library Building Committee Chair Clair Colburn. “It was an amazing and generous offer to the town … It’s really impactful, and we’re very grateful for it.”
The following year, on April 4, 2023, voters approved a $29.9 million debt exclusion to build the ice rink, which was needed when the old rink became unusable. Last winter, renewed estimates revealed that the cost of the building as designed was closer to $35 million. In June 2024, Town Meeting members voted to appropriate an additional $1.5 million, preserving what voters asked for during the debt exclusion.
Prior to the town meeting votes, the foundation voted to grant $2 million to the library and $1 million to the rink. However, it wasn’t enough for the town to vote to go forward with the project; foundation board members wanted to see that the project would, indeed, come to fruition before handing over a check.
Schreiber said both projects have cleared all the necessary hurdles, and the Belmont Savings Bank Foundation was excited to be able to present the town with $3 million Monday night.
“I think we’re leaving a legacy for the town,” Brusch said. “These buildings will be around for 50 years.”
Schreiber and Brusch added that donations of this size are unlikely to happen again, which is what makes this week’s donation such a milestone for both the town and the foundation.
“This all started with a small local Belmont bank that grew,” Schreiber said. “Now, it’s having an unbelievable impact on our community.”