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Matt Damon wants to put statue of Robin Williams in Boston Public Garden (www.masslive.com)

submitted 3 months ago by ElfWord to c/boston

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Damon said in an interview with the YouTuber Jake Hamilton that an artist wants to add a permanent bronze statue of Williams in the lagoon area of the Garden [in the spot where where they filmed the famous bench scene in Good Will Hunting].

“The idea being that if you feel alone you can go sit next to him, which I think is the coolest idea. It would be like the most beautiful installation and like such a tribute to that guy, who I think would’ve loved that.”

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[–] ElfWord 45 points 3 months ago (4 children)

The catch: Municipal red tape might stop the statue even before it can be cast.

The city has a moratorium in place for all new memorials in the Public Garden or on Boston Common, according to Lynn Page Flaherty from the Friends of the Public Garden, the nonprofit group that advocates for the city's oldest green spaces.

The bench is also already dedicated in memory to another person, which presents a problem for the effort to honor Williams.

via Axios' brief article covering this.

[–] [email protected] 49 points 3 months ago (2 children)

The moratorium exists for a reason, and if the bench is already dedicated to another person, it would be disrespectful to ignore that. Those things shouldn’t be dismissed as “red tape”.

(I’m arguing with the wording of the article, not you personally, OP.)

[–] ElfWord 16 points 3 months ago

👍 Appreciated.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago (3 children)

The moratorium exists for a reason

What is that? I'm not seeing anything about a moratorium in this article...

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago

I don’t know the reason, but I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt. Presumably, that law was passed because people thought it was necessary.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

It’s in the article @ElfWord linked in their comment - the comment you are replying to is replying to them.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago (2 children)

That article doesn't say anything about the moratorium except that it exists. My question was why it exists

[–] MirthfulAlembic 4 points 3 months ago

Probably because it already has a lot of memorials and, having been there, does not have a lot of space to add more without turning it from a functional park to an outside museum. There are a lot of historical public spaces in Boston that are unable to function as anything besides a tourist spot due to that. Bostonians still exist and need green spaces to live and play.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

That’s fair. I was responding to the bit where you said you didn’t see it.

As for the why - no idea, honestly.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago

It's linked in the top level comment of the OP you're replying to

[–] [email protected] 13 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Then again having a well known figure there would attract more visitors, who would then notice the bench dedication. It's a question of if William's tribute would add or take away from that person's, and the area in general.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago

I agree. It's not like if the gardens were commemorating someone there couldn't also me other memorials within it. If it's don't respectfully, I dont think there should be a issue.

[–] MimicJar 4 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

If I recall correctly there is already a bench dedicated to the film in the garden, can we just upgrade that one?

Edit: