Local
The committee is scheduled to consider the request on Thursday.
WEMOUTH, Mass. (AP) — An effort is underway to name the new gymnasium at a Massachusetts middle school after a police officer killed in the line of duty more than three years ago.
Weymouth Mayor Robert Hedlund is asking the Weymouth Memorial Committee for approval to name the gym at the Chapman Middle School in honor of Sgt. Michael Chesna, The Patriot Ledger reported Monday.
The committee is scheduled to consider the request on Thursday.
“We thought long and hard for the appropriate tribute and memorial, and given his ties to the town and school system and love of basketball, this was the most befitting tribute we could think of in a beautiful new facility,” Hedlund said.
Chesna, 42, was killed on July 15, 2018, while investigating a car crash. The suspect in Chesna’s slaying is also charged with killing Vera Adams, a 77-year-old widow.
Chesna, a married father of two who joined the Weymouth Police Department in 2012, was an Army veteran who was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, earning a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star.
The town is rebuilding the school. Most of the building was demolished, but the gymnasium remained and will be fully renovated.