Possible Purchase Of UMass Property Set To Go Before City Council

WALTHAM, MA — The city's Community Preservation Committee approved Mayor Jeannette McCarthy’s application for $14 million in Community Preservation Act funds to support the purchase of the UMass property on Beaver Street, which includes the Waltham Field Station and historic farmland.

City Council will now officially consider the matter.

"We are abundantly grateful for your advocacy and extend a great big thank you to all who have supported the tenants at the Field Station and participated in the effort to preserve and protect this historic land," Field Station staff announced Friday.

Waltham Fields Community Farm, a non-profit, is one of the last working farms in the greater Boston area and one that has at within its mission to help others - from hunger relief to education. But the future of the farm, after the farm's landlord announced its intention to close the farm's office space, has been in question.

Following pushback from the community, the University of Massachusetts, the farm's landlord, offered to move the farm's field station main office to rented space on Mount Ida campus in Newton (which it just acquired) by the end of 2019. Then, last fall, it came out that the university and city officials were in closed-door talks about the possibility of having the city acquire the property.

Nearly one year and one petition later, several city councilors have said they support the idea of the Waltham acquiring the farm. But with the city facing the cost of building a new high school it's been unclear if it would secure money to acquire the land from the university.

UMass acquired the property by way of Cornelia Warren's will at her passing in 1922.

The site was her family's, where they produced dairy, hay and vegetables. When Warren died, the farm was divided into several parcels by the trustees of her estate by way of a deed. Since then, the UMass Field Station has been a mecca for gardeners, farmers, breeders and horticultural research.

Provisions of the Warren deed have lapsed, making the acquisition tricky.

"If this historic land is developed, Waltham will lose an incredible and irreplaceable part of its history and green space,"according to the land trust.

Councilors Darcy, McMenimen, and McLaughlin presented the CPA application with the mayor.

Councilor Kristine Mackin was among the first to publically support this when Darcy initiated all of this last November by raising the issue in the council.

Councilors Diane LeBlanc and Robert Logan have previously told Patch they'd be supportive of a possible deal that would save the farm. Councilors Sharline Nabulime and Tom Stanley have as well. Several candidates running in November have also indicated they would support such a move.

Cathyann Harris said she supports it as well and keeps two bee hives on the property and donates the honey back to the community.

"I really feel that's what the CPA fund is for," she told Patch.

Read More:

Waltham Citizen Organizes Petition To Save Waltham Fields ...

• Could Waltham Fields Community Farm Be Saved? (Nov. 2018)
• Waltham Citizen Organizes Petition To Save Waltham Fields Farm (Jan. 2019)
• Waltham Fields Community Farms Future In Question (May 2018)
• Waltham Fields Farm Tomato Theft

A Neighbor Post: Save The Waltham Fields Community Farm

Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).