FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 11/13/2024
For further information, contact:
Susan Scully Petroni
City of Framingham Public Information Officer
spetroni@framinghamma.gov
508-782-8629
City of Framingham To Celebrate 80th Anniversary of Cushing Chapel
FRAMINGHAM – The City of Framingham will hold a ceremony on Sunday, November 17 to celebrate the 80th anniversary of Cushing Chapel at Cushing Memorial Park.
The public is invited to attend. The keynote speaker for the ceremony will be City Historian Frederic Wallace, who write the book Pushing For Cushing in War and Peace in 2015.
Built in 1943, and dedicated in 1944, the historic chapel turned 80 years old earlier this year.
Mayor Charlie Sisitsky reconstituted the Cushing Memorial Chapel Advisory Committee this year, and the Committee’s first task was to plan this celebration event.
Members of the Committee include Wallace, Framingham Facilities Director Jim Paolini, Veterans Councilor Nick Paganella, Veterans Councilor Debra Freed, and Framingham residents Mary O’Connor Doucette and Maria Figueroa.
Mayor Sisitsky and City Council Chair Phil Ottaviani Jr. will present joint proclamation at the ceremony.
The Government Channel will record the ceremony to air later.
Following the ceremony, refreshments will be served, and the public is invited to tour the historic chapel, which is one of the few remaining structures on the grounds of the former Cushing Hospital.
Cushing Hospital's campus featured a total of 95 buildings, which encompassed medical facilities, a post office, a gas station, an ice cream parlor, a library, a fire station, and this historic chapel.
More than 1,000 military and hundreds of civilian staff were employed at the former hospital site during World War II.
The Veterans Administration closed the hospital, after which the Commonwealth of Massachusetts assumed ownership and operated the facility as a geriatric hospital.
Eventually, the Town of Framingham acquired the property, transforming it into the highly regarded Cushing Memorial Park, which continues to be maintained alongside its historic chapel.