Newton Mayor Explains Costs Of Taking Webster Woods

NEWTON, MA —In her latest newsletter to the public, Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller takes the bulk of it to explain what she intends to do concerning Webster Woods, a nearly 18 acre parcel of woodland that was once owned by Congregation Mishkan Tefila until it sold the property to Boston College in 2016.

Neighbors - including the mayor - have been concerned that the woods, which sit along the state-owned Hammond Pond Parkway in Chestnut Hill and connect to the city owned Webster Conservation Area, the Hammond Pond Reservation and the Cohen Conservation Area, will be developed by Boston College. So, on Sept. 18 the mayor announced she was taking steps to save Webster Woods, permanently. Thursday, she's set to come before the Community Preservation Committee with more specifics, but ahead of that, she outlined the costs of the project.

The city is working to take the property by eminent domain for $15.2 million with legal fees it could be closer to $16 million she said.

The land was part of the state reservation until 1954, when the state sold it to the temple for $400 an acre. In 2016, Boston College paid $20 million for the property, or roughly $870,000 per acre.

Two years after BC bought the land, the college began using the former temple buildings for performance, rehearsal space and as a retreat center, investing in more than $5 million to make repairs to the buildings and another $1.5 million to repair a sewer line, according to the college. College officials have said they have no plans to develop the land.

But a city-hired real estate estimator firm valued the land at $15.2 million, said the mayor.

The nearly 18 acres of land contribute to the 88 acres of forest on either side of it and makes up the largest contiguous forest in Newton and includes a diverse eco-system and habitat of woods, rocky ledges and vernal pools.

Newton Mayor To Update City On Plans To Save Webster ...