To the Editor:

As you know, there is a lot of positive activity happening in Peabody Square. The Ashmont Grill is thriving and getting lots of media attention (the good kind!). A neighborhood group is working through the artist selection process for a permanent art installation. Trinity Financial got the needed tax credits to commit to their transit-oriented development at Ashmont. Work is beginning on our beautiful new T station. And the City-funded Peabody Square Design study had its first public meeting a couple of weeks ago. Some days, it seems that all eyes are on Peabody Square, which is perched at the start of a renaissance that neighbors have been trying to jump-start for many years.

Because of all of this great news, and because the notion of "place" is important in identifying our neighborhood, some of us, your neighbors, have begun to discuss the possibility of revising the name of Ashmont Station. The MBTA has told us informally that the timing is right, because of the renovation of the station. We think that the name "Ashmont/Peabody Square" would better serve the area around the station, and we are hereby floating the idea to all stakeholders, to see if others agree with us.

Named by the Boston City Council for Colonel Oliver Peabody and his wife Mary Lothrop Peabody in 1893, the square was a vital center of commerce and transportation beginning in the mid 1800s. Since then, Peabody Square has been through a lot, and over the years, largely because of its proximity to a large intermodal MBTA station, an influx of automobile traffic, and the gradual loss of buildings in the square, it has become a pass-through location. We believe that soon, because of the impending development and activity, it will once more become a destination. Revising the name of the station to create a sense of place will aid in forging a new identity for the square. It will help to create an atmosphere in which existing merchants can thrive, and potential merchants will see unlimited possibilities for growth and success.

Peabody Square will go through an almost wholesale infrastructure change in the next few years, and we feel that a revised name would simultaneously acknowledge the historic and future greatness of the square that sits in the heart of one of Dorchester's great neighborhoods. Of course, you can still call it "Ashmont" just as some of us still refer to "Columbia" and "Washington!"

Please let us know what you think about this idea by sending an email to peabodysq@empathetic.com or calling 617-839-6734.

Jack Cunningham, Fairfax St.

Evelyn Darling, Bailey St.

Beverley DaRocha, Fuller St.

Rosanne Foley, Welles Ave.

Jeffrey Gonyeau, Cushing Ave.

Kenneth Haase, Bailey St.

Joyce Linehan, Burt St.

Bill Richard, Carruth St.

Earl Taylor, Ashmont St.

Steve Weymouth, Bailey St.