The 3-year-old U.S. Federal Courthouse, a brick addition to Fan Pier that overlooks the Boston skyline, was rededicated yesterday in honor of Rep. Joseph Moakley (D-Mass.), who will not seek re-election due to leukemia.
Many distinguished guests, friends and followers of Moakley attended the U.S. General Services-hosted event.
Guests included Boston College Chancellor J. Donald Monan, Mayor Thomas Menino, Gov. Jane Swift, Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and one the three Irish Tenors, John McDermott, who surprised guests with a song in Moakley’s honor at the end of the dedication.
The guests praised the contributions Moakley made throughout his political career. Menino said Moakley’s “fingerprints are on every major project in the city of Boston.”
“We love you, Joe, and always will,” Kennedy said, echoing the sentiment of many others at the celebration.
Swift announced her proposition for legislation declaring April 18 “Joe Moakley Day.” She also spoke of her admiration for Moakley, especially in his successes with education issues, despite “political differences” and that he “has shown us a little humor and warmth can win over foes.”
“It is an honor for this building to be in his name,” said Judge Douglas Woodlock of the U.S. District Court.
The new courthouse features a 240-foot floating dock, a National Park Service information center, a 300-seat assembly room and artwork in a rotunda by renowned artist Ellsworth Kelly.
The building was named after Moakley in honor of his success in channeling $183 million for its construction as well as his many contributions to the city, state and country.
Moakley was born in 1927 in South Boston, where he still has a home. He has been actively involved with politics since his election to the state Legislature at the age of 23, when he was still at Suffolk University Law School. He spent eight years in the State House of Representatives, nine years in the State Senate and served a short term in the City Council beginning in 1971.
Shortly afterward, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as an independent candidate, although he returned to the Democratic party soon after the election.
In Congress Moakley has served as chairman of the Rules Committee and is well known for his work in ending the civil war in El Salvador.
Moakley said it’s “poetic that this building is where me and my friends used to meet the fruit trucks and pick up the fallen watermelons. … I could not imagine in my wildest dreams the full circle my life made.
“This is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me.”
This is an account occasionally used by the Daily Free Press editors to post archived posts from previous iterations of the site or otherwise for special circumstance publications. See authorship info on the byline at the top of the page.
