A New Icon for Washington Square

With little ceremony or explanation, a new memorial appeared suddenly in Washington Square last month.

The structure, a gray cupola recovered from atop a gas station more than a decade ago, is meant to honor the contributions of the late Barbara Soifer, a Washington Square shopkeeper who fought tirelessly on behalf of her neighborhood until finally succumbing to cancer a year ago.

"She's done a lot of things for the square, and for Brookline really, and one of the projects she was very earnest about was this cupola," said Dennis Becker, owner of the and one of Soifer's good friends. "When she passed away, it was one of the last things she wanted accomplished, so certainly in her honor we are assuring this project would happen."

The cupola, which now stands in the Beacon Street median across Washington Street from the square's iconic Victorian clock, will eventually be repainted and inscribed with a message honoring Soifer and her contributions to the square. Becker expects that a dedication could take place as early as next May.

"It's a work in progress," he said. "We got it in place and we want to let it go through the winter to be sure it's whether proof and so forth,"

Soifer is perhaps best known as the founder of the , an annual event now used to promote Brookline businesses across town before the start of the winter shopping season. As the longtime president of the Washington Square Merchants Association, she also advocated on behalf of the square during the renovation of Beacon Street, arranged for the Victorian clock to be purchased and installed, organized annual festivals and encouraged more restaurants to provide outdoor seating. She liked to refer to Washington Square as the "Paris of Brookline."

The cupola was one of Soifer's last unfinished projects. The ornamental structure once topped a gas station behind the Fireplace Restaurant and friends say Soifer scrambled to save it when she found the building was being demolished. It sat in storage for more than a decade while she pushed the town to let her do something with it.

After Soifer passed away about a year ago, Becker said town officials were quick to help arrange for the installation of what by then had become a memorial.

"We were able to change some minds and told people it would have a positive effect on everybody," Becker said. "They were just so cooperative."

At the same time the cupola is being restored, friends are working to resurrect Soifer's defunct merchants association, renaming it the Washington Square Association in hopes of bringing neighbors and other non-merchants into the fold.

"We wanted it to be more inclusive," said Hsiu-Lan Chang, owner of Washington Sqaure's and president of the forthcoming association. "It's primary goal is to foster neighborhood good will, as well as represent the neighborhood in town issues and cooperate in the continued beautification of the our square."