12mo ago

Matt Damon wants to put statue of Robin Williams in Boston Public Garden

www.masslive.com

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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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.
- 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.)
  
  👍 Appreciated.
  
  The moratorium exists for a reason
  What is that? I'm not seeing anything about a moratorium in this article...
- 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.
  
  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.
- If I recall correctly there is already a bench dedicated to the film in the garden, can we just upgrade that one?
  Edit:
I'd vote for that

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