While a groundbreaking earlier this month marked the real start of construction on Wellesley’s long-awaited senior center, one question that does remain is what will become of the memorial marker that sits on the former American Legion property on Washington Street where the Tolles-Parsons Center will rise.
The marker honors Wellesley’s William A. Haley, who died in October of 1951 at the age of 25 in a car accident in Vermont. According to a front page Wellesley Townsman article, Haley enlisted in the U.S. Navy at the age of 17 and served, and was a member of Wellesley VFW Post 1590. He was buried at Woodlawn cemetery.
The marker and a flagpole were given to the VFW post on Rte. 9 in Wellesley by his parents, but the items were moved to the current site 15 or 20 years ago when the VFW post was torn down, according to one local source. I’m pretty sure I can recall the flagpole being up within the past few years, but it is no longer there.
Our questions about the marker to movers and shakers in town have piqued their interest, and the Council on Aging and others are looking into the matter. We’ll provide an update when we learn more.
MORE: Wellesley memorial markers (slideshow)
Also, a very nice touch that a memorial of a young person’s untimely death was placed right next to a “dig safe” premarking indicator with an arrow pointing DIRECTLY at it (that’s what the “ds” in white paint is). It was very classy of the contractor or whoever was responsible for that.
Sheesh, folks, you realize that other people are watching, right?
If I had to guess, it has piqued their interest because they now realize that the marker should not (perhaps could not legally) have been moved without some kind administrative or legal process. It would be perfectly fitting if this project, having been “in the works” for over 10 years so that all matters could be considered, debated and addressed, were delayed because of this. Meanwhile, the cost of the project will continue to increase as the construction bubble in Greater Boston continues to inflate.