InternationalCatholicos, Mass. governor inaugurate Boston's Armenian Park
Published: Saturday October 02, 2010
The blue and gold ornamentation on a Boston skyscraper echoed Armenian ecclesiastical vestments as Catholicos Karekin II (right) prepared to bless the future park. Lou Ann Matossian
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick at the podium . Lou Ann Matossian
Boston - The groundbreaking and blessing of the future Armenian Heritage Park took place on a cloudy September 9 in the heart of downtown Boston, dedicated by the highest dignitaries of church and state.
His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, blessed the parcel of green lawn, the size of a small city block.
Neighborhood residents, benefactors, public officials, and proud Armenian-Americans applauded remarks by Mayor Thomas M. Menino, Congressman Michael Capuano (D-MA), Governor Deval Patrick, and Armenian Heritage Foundation President James M. Kalustian. Massachusetts State Rep. Peter Koutoujian, honorary chair of the Foundation's board of directors, served as master of ceremonies.
Armenian and American national anthems opened the program, which was attended by Massachusetts elected officials past and present, including former governor Michael Dukakis. Several of the speakers emphasized that the park was intended to memorialize not only Armenian immigrants and the Armenian Genocide, but also, more generally, immigrant heritage and genocide awareness.
"We are gathered together to reconfirm the vision and spirit of our predecessors," the Catholicos declared. "We dedicate this ground in memory of 1.5 million victims of the Armenian Genocide, but not only that, we consecrate it in memory of all victims of genocide, before and after 1915, for the victims of the Holocaust, of Cambodia, of Rwanda, and Africa."
Rep. Koutoujian praised the leadership of foundation vice presidents Charles Guleserian and Haig Deranian, and especially Mr. Kalustian, who spoke eloquently on the characteristics and symbolism of Armenian Heritage Park. The park will pay tribute to Armenian and other immigrant communities who, having found safety in Boston and Massachusetts, made world-renowned contributions in the arts, sciences, and public life, Mr. Kalustian said. While commemorating the Armenian Genocide, the park will also attest that the Armenian community is not defined by genocide, he added.
Mr. Kalustian's closing remarks are to be inscribed at the base of the park's sculpture: For centuries, Boston and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts have offered hope and refuge for immigrants who have sought to begin new lives. This park is a gift to the people of the Commonwealth and the city of Boston from the Armenian American community of Massachusetts. The sculpture is offered in honor of the 1.5 million victims of the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923. May it stand in remembrance of all genocides that have followed, and celebrate the diversity of the communities that have re-formed in the safety of these shores.
Located on Parcel 13 of the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway, between Christopher Columbus Park and Quincy Market, Armenian Heritage Park will be constructed at no expense to the taxpayer and maintained by the Armenian Heritage Foundation, a consortium of more than three dozen Armenian-American organizations. The generosity of some fifty Armenian individual and foundation philanthropists was acknowledged in a flyer distributed at the groundbreaking.
The audience, estimated at 700 to 1,000, included Armenian parishioners bused in from nearby Watertown, students from area Armenian schools, and leaders of local and national Armenian-American organizations.
