I am still searching for the operating budget for the new ice rink since Select Board Chair Elizabeth Dionne hoped it would be revenue-neutral. Naming the structure and the ice surface, I think, should require a real hard thought process. When the old rink was demolished, the White Field House went with it. Who was James Paul White? What was the significance of the building’s dedication on May 30, 1948, where 1,000 people attended and Sen. Leverett Saltonstall eulogized Paul White who was killed in action in Belgium on December 21, 1944.
Belmont has lots of famous names around town – Benton & Underwood among them — and what is their significance? In January 2019, the Select Board approved the naming rights of the Town Field courts to the memory of Edward “Teddy” Lee who was killed in action in Vietnam. Over twenty of his classmates, BHS Class of 1965, attended the dedication ceremony on November 2, 2019. When I asked the Select Board in August 2022 after the courts were renovated if Teddy’s name would be preserved, the response was there had been no decision and they may be selling the rights instead. Does the town administration have a naming and sponsor rights process? Will the ice rink and then the library be part of this process? It’s more than just a name.
Rick Semerjian, South Cottage Road