Dedham Awarded $40K Grant For Outdoor Seating In Dedham Square

DEDHAM, MA — Dedham was one of 21 municipalities to receive a grant this funding round through MassDOT's Shared Winter Streets and Spaces program. Dedham was awarded $40,000 for the reinstallation of the temporary outdoor seating that was in Dedham Square this summer.

The town will use the money to reinstall three temporary, ADA-compliant outdoor seating locations in Dedham Square. The locations will include safety barriers, through the removal of existing on-street parking. The original program was piloted in 2020.

The Shared Spaces program launched in November 2020 and provides technical and funding assistance to help Massachusetts cities and towns conceive, design, and implement tactical changes to curbs, streets, and parking areas in support of public health, safe mobility, and renewed commerce, with a special focus on the particular challenges of winter.

Outdoor dining in Dedham and many other towns in the Commonwealth became a life raft for local restaurants to continue to safely serve customers through the pandemic.