2003-09-24
City of Beverly, Massachusetts
Public Meeting Minutes
Board: Parks and Recreation Commission
Subcommittee:
Date: September 24, 2003
Place: GAR Hall (moved from Beverly Public Library due to flooding)
Board members present: Mark Casey, Jack O'Neil, Bill Collins, David Gardner, Gary Lambert
Board members absent: Kevin Hobin, Patti Adams, Lauren Young, Arthur Powell
Others present: Bruce Doig, Arthur Daignault, Jake Petronzio, George Casey, Doug Henderson, Cliff
Eckmann, City Councilor Ron Costa
This was a special meeting of the Beverly Parks & Recreation Commission to discuss plans for
improvements to Veterans' Memorials at Odell Park.
Mr. Petronzio started the meeting by describing the history and mission of the Veterans' Memorial Advisory
Committee. The Committee is made up of 5 members and was created to advise the Mayor on Veteran
Memorial Issues in Beverly. The Committee was started during Mayor Monihan's second term in office and
Jake Petronzio is the current Chairman of the Committee. The Committee has documented all veterans'
memorials in the city with a 6 hour video tape.
Mr. Petronzio informed the Recreation Commission that when the Committee was first formed, Odell Park
was "in shambles". His group worked with the city to have the cement "launching pad" removed and
improve the park to its current state. Jake gave credit to the mayors and DPW heads for the work done to
date since the park has been upgraded significantly from its state when his committee was formed.
Bruce Doig informed Mr. Petronzio that upgrading Odell Park was a priority of the Recreation Commission
over the past 8 years and Joan Fairbank and the Commission worked closely with the DPW heads to
ensure that the improvements were completed.
Mr. Petronzio informed the Commission that in the 1990's the name was officially changed by the City
Council to "Veterans' Memorials at Odell Park". In 1996, a landscape architect developed a plan for the
park which included the cannons, walkways, memorials, and Civil War monument. A few years ago, the
cannons were moved to the park from Central Cemetery by DPW.
Jake stated that he has been working for 5 years with Mac Seaver at the NS Technical HS to get on the
waiting list to build a bell tower at the park. The project was accepted last spring and a plan was drawn
on June 23, 2003 for the bell tower.
After Mr. Petronzio spoke, there was a great deal of discussion about the 1996 plan and the current plans
for the bell tower. It was pointed out that the 1996 plan does not include any mention of the bell tower or
eternal flame proposed by Mr. Petronzio at the May Recreation Commission meeting. It was suggested by
Dave Gardner that Jake have a copy made of the 1996 plan and have it updated to include all
improvements currently being requested.
It was discussed that there was still a question about who has responsibility for Veterans' Memorials at
Odell Park. Mark Casey had notified everyone after the May Commission meeting that the City Solicitor,
Peter Gilmore, had ruled that the park was still under the jurisdiction of the Parks & Recreation Commision.
Mr. Petronzio stated that he was not aware of this decision until he received a letter from Mark two weeks
ago. Jake stated that the City Council gave the Advisory Committee authority for all changes to the park
when the name was changed but that this was never documented.
At this point in the meeting, Art Daignault, the ADA Coordinator for the City of Beverly, discussed his letter
stating that the memorial blocking the walkway to Park Street needed to be corrected since it did not meet
ADA requirements. Everyone agreed that this issue should be a top priority and corrected as soon as
possible, even if it means a temporary widening of the existing walkway until the new walkways proposed
by the Committee can be installed.
There was a lengthy discussion about the plans for the bell tower. It is planned for a total height of 13'
and width of 6'. The exterior will be brick and the roof will be four sided. Jake stated that the tower was
designed after the tower at McKeown School. He also stated that the openings around the bell would be
filled with steel bars, even though this was not on the plan. The discussion about the bell tower continued
and it was suggested that 13' would be too tall for the park. Jake suggested that the tower could be any
height that the Commission desired. Many Commission members expressed concern that the plans were
not complete since they did not have any elevation drawings and the bars were not included on the plan.
Several requests were made to have the plans updated to include the final height and details about the
bars.
After much discussion, a motion was made by Gary Lambert to have the bell tower plans modified to 7-8'
and let the NS Technical HS begin work on the bell tower. This would allow the Advisory Committee to
move forward while the plans for the whole park were updated and approved by the Recreation
Commission. Jack O'Neil seconded this motion and discussion was requested.
At this point, Ward 2 City Councilor Ron Costa stated that he was speaking on behalf of the citizens in his
ward that do not want additional changes to the park. He stated that without final plans, the Commission
should not vote to allow the Advisory Committee to continue. He would like to see full plans including
elevations and drawings to scale showing how the structure will fit in the park. Mr. Costa also stated that
he felt the Recreation Commission was obligated to protect city property and not allow these changes
without complete plans.
After lengthy discussions and a recess, a vote was taken on the previous motion. The motion was denied
by a vote of 5-0.
It was discussed that the Commission would discuss this issue again at the October 2,2003 meeting and
would like to see updated plans from the Advisory Committee. Mr. Petronzio stated that he was going to
speak with Mayor Crean and see how he would like to proceed.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:45PM.
Respectfully submitted
Bruce Doig
Recreation Department