Several weeks ago I wrote a piece on the DPW barn, http://philgallagher.blogspot.com/2006/12/dpw-barn.html
and vowed to do some further digging on the subject to determine some of the facts surrounding the ownership of the property. I was able to acquire a copy of the deed that conveyed the property to the town, unfortunately this piece of paper actually creates additional confusion.
The simplest of the facts is that on June 26, 1959, Federated Department Stores conveyed to the town a four acre parcel of and subject to the following restriction:
"For the benefit of other land of the grantor in said Burlington situated Southerly of said Great Meadow Road , Easterly of Middlesex Turnpike, Northerly of the Northern Circumferential Highway (Route 128) and westerly of Blanchard Road, which shall remain in effect until July 15th 2059, that said premises shall be used only for a public works building or other public purposes."
Up to this point it has been commonly thought at town hall that the town had a 100 year ground lease on this property. The deed says no such thing. In fact the deed states that "consideration for the deed being less than $100, no revenue stamps are affixed hereto." What that would seem to indicate is that the land has been fully conveyed to the town and that the restriction is simply that it can only be used for a public works building or other public purpose.
If this is the case then it would seem that even though 2059 is indeed far away it never the less alleviates the ultimate need for the town to find another location as a result of being evicted from the property at the maturity date. In addition it would seem on the surface that if the town does find another more environmentally sound location for the barn (which is directly adjacent to the town's major well field) it would be under the town's purview to grass this property over and make a park out of it without fear of it reverting back to its previous ownership for development.
So further digging and clarification is necessary. The central question is does the conveyance to the town end after 100 years or does only the designation of the public purpose? An added twist to the whole story is that Federated was not the original owner of the property. On the same day Federated deeded the property to the town, a company called Realty Development Co. had conveyed it to Federated. Apparently Realty Development was a large holder of land in Burlington at that time. "The benefit of other land of the grantor" appears to be all the major landowners in the Mall Road area.
