The history of Dedham, Massachusetts from 2000 to present includes several large commercial and residential developments, the Town's 375th anniversary, municipal building projects, and changes to the Charter.

Development Major developments in Dedham include the Jewish Rashi School, a $30 million building on the 162-acre campus of Hebrew SeniorLife's NewBridge on the Charles in the fall of 2010. The 82,000-square-foot LEED-certified school opened in the fall of 2010 with 300 students in kindergarten through eighth grade and room to grow the population. The first of the 700 residents of NewBridge on the Charles moved in on June 1, 2010.

After Legacy Place, a shopping mall with 80 stores, restaurants, and a 15-screen movie theater opened, businesses in Dedham Square suffered. Legacy Place opened in 2009, with the first movie being shown to the public on August 27, 2009. The first film was Inglourious Basterds, and the first preview was for Shutter Island, a movie partially filmed in Dedham.

In the early years of the century, the 103' water pipe that stood on Walnut Street across from Oakdale Avenue was torn down to make room for a new house. At the time, it was the oldest steel water tank in the country, having stood since 1881.

Municipal building projects Town Hall and Senior Center

Town Meeting rejected a $40 million proposal in November 2014 to buy a portion of the former Rust Craft Greeting Card building at 100 Rustcraft Road for use as a Town Hall, Senior Center, and Police Station. The Town had already spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in due diligence when Town Meeting rejected the plan.

At the 2014 Annual Town Meeting it was voted instead to purchase the Ames Schoolhouse for $5.85 million and renovate it to be used as a Town Hall and Senior Center. An additional $1 million was appropriated to relocate the tenants of the schoolhouse, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. Town Meeting Representatives and other supporters of a Senior Center, a building discussed and debated for more than 30 years, "wooed and applauded loudly," and were dancing in the aisles after the article passed.

The price to renovate the building ballooned from $10.6 million to $14.1 million after a more thorough inspection of the building was conducted. On June 19 and 20, 2020, most departments moved from the old town hall into the Ames Schoolhouse.

Public safety building

After most of the Town's administrative offices move into the Ames Schoolhouse, the Police Department was expected to renovate the old Town Hall for their use at a cost of $9.5 million. Plans changed, however, to knocking down the existing Town Hall and instead building a combined public safety building for both the police and fire departments.

On March 5, 2021, a ceremonial groundbreaking took place for the new building. The new building at 26 Bryant Street was opened for the first time on March 12, 2023. The public was invited to take tours following the ribbon cutting.

William B. Gould statue

On November 9, 2020, the Town of Dedham renamed a 1.3 acre park as the William B. Gould Memorial Park. The park was formally dedicated on September 23, 2021, before a crowd of more than 100. The park on Mother Brook is about .5 miles from Gould's home on Milton Street. A committee was established to erect a sculpture of him on the site by Memorial Day 2023, the 100th anniversary of Gould's death. The names of four finalists, all artists of color, were announced at the dedication.

On May 28, 2023, the statue was unveiled before a crowd of hundreds by Timothy, Alina, and William B. Gould VI, three of Gould's great-great-great-grandchildren. There ceremony took place a few days after the 100th anniversary of Gould's death. The statue portrays Gould as an older man, as he would have been known to the people of Dedham. His hands are slightly enlarged and his posture is slightly stiff, demonstrating that he worked hard jobs his entire life. It includes the coat he wore as Commander of the Carrol Post of the Grand Army of the Republic, and a toolbox with symbolic tools he used in his life such as a compass, a trowel, and a pen. A copy of his diary sits open on his lap.

Town Green Following the construction of the new Public Safety Building,the Dedham Square Planning Committee voted to recommend the old police headquarters be demolished and a new town green be built on the site in December 2021. A six-person working group was created to oversee the project in April 2022. A groundbreaking ceremony for the Town Green was held on May 16, 2024. The Green was officially opened with a ribbon cutting ceremony on April 30, 2025.

Government

Charter changes In March 2012 the Board of Selectmen created a Charter Advisory Committee to review the Town's governing document and to recommend changes. The committee consisted of Thomas R. Polito Jr., Joseph Pascarella, Kevin Mawe, Jay Donahue, Brian Keaney, Cherylann Sheehan, and Camille Zahka, and met more than 25 times before presenting their findings to the Selectmen in August 2013. The Selectmen sent the recommendations on to Town Meeting, who presented them to Town Meeting. The Town Meeting approved all but one, calling for term limits. At the 2014 Town Election, voters approved five of the six amendments, with the only exception being an increase in the term of the Town Clerk from three to five years.

In 2020 a new Charter Committee was appointed. It included Chairman Carmen Dello Iacono, Michelle Apuzzio, Gemma Martin, Andrew Haley, Lance Hartford, Michele Heffernan, and Tom Ryan.

Pandemic-era town meetings Town Meeting was altered several times during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the fall of 2020, Town Meeting was held over Zoom. Due to technological glitches, power outages in some parts of town as a result of a storm, and running a meeting of nearly 300 people plus other officials, it did not finish until after midnight the next day. A team of more than 20 people worked weekly since the previous August to iron out the issues related to the first ever virtual town meeting.

In May 2021, it was held outdoors at Stone Park. In November 2021, town meeting was held on the tennis courts at the Dedham Health and Athletic Complex, a space large enough for everyone to be indoors while still social distancing. The owners, Lloyd and Roberta Gainsboro, were given a plaque thanking them for shutting down their tennis courts for the evening and hosting the first ever town meeting held "in a building that's big enough to park airplanes in."

Select Board elections

2024 One seat for a three-year term available.

SELECT BOARD Precinct 1 Precinct 2 Precinct 3 Precinct 4 Precinct 5 Precinct 6 Precinct 7 TOTAL % Blanks594330543851943698.0% JAMES A. MACDONALD417411240372444449481281461.2% JASON P. BROGAN70204126187283202336140830.6% Write-ins011402080.2% TOTAL5466593976177657049114599

2023 Two seats for three year terms available.

SELECT BOARD Precinct 1 Precinct 2 Precinct 3 Precinct 4 Precinct 5 Precinct 6 Precinct 7 TOTAL % Blanks187266190276317286360188220.3% DENNIS J. TEEHAN550443295421469541566328535.4% JOSHUA DONATI506298193332339447370248526.7% LISA JEAN DESMOND98237170242295234351162717.5% Write-ins1203421130.1% TOTAL1342124684812741424151016489292

2022 Two seats for three year terms available.

SELECT BOARD Pct.1 Pct.2 Pct.3 Pct.4 Pct.5 Pct.6 Pct.7 TOTAL % Blanks191247199225339310370188120.5% CHERYL S. SULLIVAN426536508564744164.5% ERIN BOLES WELSH430276191316350453385240126.1% DIMITRIA SULLIVAN399465258344422470503286131.1% JASON P. BROGAN90180193230320233379162517.7% Write-ins0131223120.1% TOTAL1152123488011661518153217149196

2021 One seat for a full three-year term available.

SELECT BOARD Pct.1 Pct.2 Pct.3 Pct.4 Pct.5 Pct.6 Pct.7 TOTAL Blanks1901621322332602732431493 JAMES A. MACDONALD3323372753414704464362637 Write-ins496567643 TOTAL5265084135797367266854173

2020 Two seats for three year terms available.

SELECTMEN Pct.1 Pct.2 Pct.3 Pct.4 Pct.5 Pct.6 Pct.7 TOTAL Blanks5244653775086266755293704 KEVIN R. COUGHLIN3364873884526046686043539 DENNIS J. TEEHAN, JR.4475134035006216606343808 WILLIAM J. RALPH1321761511882242692611401 PAUL REYNOLDS (Write-in)91151836447517296 Write-ins269161115362 TOTAL156216621346170021302362204812810

2019 Two seats for three year terms available.

SELECTMEN Pct.1 Pct.2 Pct.3 Pct.4 Pct.5 Pct.6 Pct.7 TOTAL Pct Blanks319226139215253300242169419.3% SARAH MACDONALD530275166347390412288240827.4% CARMEN E. DELLO IACONO, JR.70131131197230201249120913.8% WILLIAM J. RALPH77136134169172200207109512.5% DIMITRIA SULLIVAN303414206281372422361235926.9% Write-ins1221351150.2% TOTAL1300118477812101420154013488780

2018 One seat for a full three-year term available.

SELECTMEN Pct.1 Pct.2 Pct.3 Pct.4 Pct.5 Pct.6 Pct.7 TOTAL Blanks976666898110177577 JAMES A. MACDONALD5754502573864454614643038 WILLIAM J. RALPH1441641992472653062791604 Write-ins164879261282 TOTAL1120103287610081196136012427834

2017 Two seats for three year terms available.

SELECTMEN Pct.1 Pct.2 Pct.3 Pct.4 Pct.5 Pct.6 Pct.7 TOTAL Blanks4363673233853804954282814 DENNIS J. GUILFOYLE3313383013044344384262572 DENNIS J. TEEHAN, JR.3373232443123734013762366 Write-ins164879261282 TOTAL1120103287610081196136012427834

2016 Two seats for three year terms available.

SELECTMEN Pct.1 Pct.2 Pct.3 Pct.4 Pct.5 Pct.6 Pct.7 TOTAL Blanks21113275125132158139972 THOMAS M. BONCEK54423247667274387 BRENDAN KEOGH2122741372002112502531537 MICHAEL L. BUTLER1991731171621722721821277 Write-ins211032211 TOTAL6786223625345847546504184

2015 One seat for a full three-year term available.

SELECTMEN 3yr Pct.1 Pct.2 Pct.3 Pct.4 Pct.5 Pct.6 Pct.7 TOTAL TOTAL Blanks1491369010913414016792535.81% JAMES A. MACDONALD2202671571982752722541,64363.61% Write-ins3101352150.58% TOTAL3724042473084124174232,583

A separate election was called for when Carmen Dello Iacono stepped down as Selectman to becoming the Town's electrical inspector.

SELECTMEN 1yr Pct.1 Pct.2 Pct.3 Pct.4 Pct.5 Pct.6 Pct.7 TOTAL TOTAL Blanks147158171710883.41% STEPHEN M. BILAFER210896610411417115791135.27% BRENDAN KEOGH1463081661932782272551,57360.90% Write-ins2003321110.43% TOTAL3724042473084124174232,583

2014 Two seats for full three year terms were available.

SELECTMEN Pct.1 Pct.2 Pct.3 Pct.4 Pct.5 Pct.6 Pct.7 TOTAL Pct Blanks183215170139226217245139515.2% BRENDAN KEOGH16742297188221198176146916.0% MARY E. GILBERT3758875124129151112105411.5% DENNIS J. TEEHAN, JR295196163261289292301179719.5% CHERYL A. SCHOENFELD18610413097157167264110512.0% KENNETH P. GILCHRIST82347151931151581.7% DENNIS J. GUILFOYLE88236298220409330318189920.7% DANIEL JON O'NEIL, JR193233163639262012.2% THOMAS M. BONCEK131023121718121051.1% WRITE-INS202031190.1% TOTAL13361326103810721506144414709192

2013 Two seats for full three year terms were available.

SELECTMEN Pct.1 Pct.2 Pct.3 Pct.4 Pct.5 Pct.6 Pct.7 TOTAL Blanks2771701731912883102861695 CARMEN E. DELLOIACONO, JR.2321791542312562922861630 MICHAEL L. BUTLER2471651342042462872701553 Write-ins241265626 TOTAL7585184626287968948484904

2012 One seat for a full three-year term available.

SELECTMEN Pct. 1 Pct. 2 Pct. 3 Pct. 4 Pct. 5 Pct. 6 Pct. 7 TOTAL Pct Blanks137586193831166561332.1% JAMES A. MACDONALD182163151152180240203127166.6% Miscellaneous Write-ins2104566241.3% TOTAL3212222122492683622741908

2011 Two seats for full three year terms were available.

SELECTMEN Pct.1 Pct.2 Pct.3 Pct.4 Pct.5 Pct.6 Pct.7 TOTAL PCT Blanks10712810519212215014695014.3% ROBERT B. O'CONNELL2559661418862825237.9% SARAH MACDONALD4072161403892332232701,87828.3% GEORGE PANAGOPOULOS224127982001581282201,15517.4% PAUL REYNOLDS3412201474182002552671,84827.9% SABINO J. CELATA244630463642442684.0% Miscellaneous Write-ins000210140.1% TOTAL1,1287965861,3888388601,0306,626100.0%

2010 Two seats for full three year terms were available.