Waltham Mayor Requests Eminent Domain of Stigmatine

WALTHAM, MA – Waltham Mayor Jeannette McCarthy recently filed a request to take the 46-acre Stigmatine Fathers & Brothers property – eyed as the preferred site for a new high school – by eminent domain.

Eminent domain would allow the city to take the property for public use and award compensation – in this case, to the tune of $15 million to the Stigmatine trustees. The move comes months after $18 million in funds was approved by the city council in order to negotiate a deal to purchase the land.

The Stigmatine Congregation in Rome, which owns the land, has said that 30 acres of land on the property could be sold to the city, but it wishes to keep the portion that houses the espousal center and other buildings, according to the Waltham News Tribune.

The decision would need 10 of 15 city council votes to pass, and will likely be voted on at the next council meeting on Feb. 21, the Waltham News Tribune reported.

In December, the Waltham School Committee voted in favor of Stigmatine as its preferred site for a new high school, contradicting a previous School Building Committee vote naming the existing site as its preferred location.

Photo Credit: Alex Newman/Patch Staff