BEDFORD - Market Basket will be the first corporate sponsor of the new bandstand at the Bedford Village Common.

The supermarket chain made a $25,000 donation Tuesday to the town, in exchange for naming rights for the bandstand for the next five years.

"We're very pleased and grateful that Market Basket came forward to be a good neighbor," said Town Council Chairman Bill Dermody.

The $720,000, nine-acre park, funded by donations, impact fees and some town funds, also features a skating pond, benches and a veterans memorial, and will eventually include a skating hut.

Dermody said in its early fundraising stages, the idea of granting naming rights to donors came up as a way to sustain funding for the Village Common.

"Fundraising is the key to everything," Dermody said, noting that a similar agreement will be made for the skating pond and the warming hut, which is expected to be built in another phase of the project. The funds are likely to be used for ongoing maintenance of the park, at the discretion of the Village Common Development Committee, Dermody said.

Dermody said the agreement between Market Basket and the town is a win-win situation, with the town getting necessary funding and the grocery store chain gaining some exposure.

At the end of the five years, Dermody said Market Basket can either choose to renew the agreement, or another entity can secure the naming rights.