North Andover Survey: Keep Stevens Estate Land Open To Public

NORTH ANDOVER, MA — North Andover residents want the town to protect public access to the trails and land surrounding the Stevens Estate, they said in a survey regarding the town-owned historic mansion.

A FlashVote survey received 450 responses, with the vast majority supporting preserving public access to the land and preserving the building in a historic manor.

The town purchased the 153-acre estate in the mid-1990s to preserve nearby conservation land. Currently, the town keeps the estate open to the public and rents it out for public and private events.

Due to years of losing money as an events space, town officials have been seeking an alternative to the current arrangement for some time. Town meeting voters in 2019 rejected a plan to transfer most of the land to the Conservation Commission and lease the mansion to an events company.

Just under half of respondents, 48.7 percent, said the town should "never" sell the Estate, while 21.2 percent said the town should consider selling or definitely sell the Estate. But respondents were amenable to third-party management: 57 percent said the town should consider a lease or management agreement.

More respondents, 31.8 percent, said the town should dedicate funds to the Estate than not, 17.1 percent.

Most respondents said the Estate is moderately to very important to them.

Full survey results are available here.

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.