Hot potato: Future of Bromfield House has become a muddle

Bromfield House seems to have become something of a hot potato, with the Select Board, the School Committee, the Parks and Recreation Commission, and the town administrator all tossing it around. Maybe it will cool down after the voters have their say in a nonbinding referendum next Tuesday. Or maybe the trustees of the Bromfield Trust and the Worcester County Probate Court will join the juggling.

Back in 2013, the School Committee notified the town administrator and the Board of Selectmen that the schools intended to “relinquish the use of the Bromfield House for educational purposes” as soon as the school district administration offices could move to another location.

And just a year ago, the 2020 Fall Town Meeting voted to transfer the “care, custody, management, and control” of Bromfield House from the School Committee to the Select Board. The same warrant article also authorized the Select Board to “sell, convey, transfer, or otherwise dispose of” the building and land. An amendment from the floor required the board to bring any plan for Bromfield House back to a future town meeting for approval.

But most recently, at the Oct. 19 Select Board meeting, Town Administrator Tim Bragan suggested the Select Board did not actually control Bromfield House’s future after all. He pointed to a letter this month from the School Committee to the Select Board. That letter supported selling Bromfield House itself for removal, while keeping the land where it stands for “a multi-purpose park that would contain facilities for both academic and physical recreation learning opportunities.”

The idea for the multipurpose park was developed by Parks and Rec. The park would include pickleball courts, a bicycle pump track, a skateboard park, and two small learning pavilions that could be used for outdoor classes.

In his opinion, Bragan said, the Bromfield House property is still technically under the School Committee’s control. “This letter nullifies the 2013 letter in which they said they had no educational use for the property,” he stated. And he added that the Select Board should write a letter to the School Committee telling it so.

What Bragan’s opinion means about the 2020 Fall Town Meeting vote transferring control of Bromfield House to the Select Board is not clear. Bragan’s response to a Press question about whether town counsel had weighed in on his contention that the School Committee still has jurisdiction was an email stating, “It is my opinion and [I] believe that will play out as the process moves forward.”

But School Committee Chair SusanMary Redinger didn’t see it that way. In an email to the Press, she wrote, “It was not our intention at the time to take back control of the lot. The previous vote of the SC [School Committee] in 2013 to relinquish the use of the Bromfield House still stands.”

To further complicate the matter, Pete Jackson, speaking for the Bromfield trustees at the most recent Town Meeting, said the trustees favor selling Bromfield House and its land as a private residence, with the proceeds to be used for educational purposes as specified by Margaret Bromfield Blanchard’s 1871 will. The will, Jackson said, requires that education be the primary use of the property or of the proceeds from its sale.

Based on previous decisions by the Worcester County Probate Court, Jackson said in a later phone conversation that the court is very unlikely to accept any petition for a change in use of the property unless it is supported by both the town and the trustees, not just one party alone. He emphasized that the Bromfield trustees are willing to work with the town to reach an agreement.

Meanwhile, within a space of six months, Spring Town Meeting in June voted down a proposal to sell Bromfield House for removal and keep the land, as the Select Board and School Committee have advocated. And Fall Town Meeting two weeks ago voted to support selling the property for a private home, as the Bromfield trustees, the Historical Commission, and supporters of the citizen petition who put forward the warrant article have urged—a vote the Select Board and others say is nonbinding.

Next Tuesday, the whole hot potato will be thrown into the hands of the voters in a referendum that is—again—nonbinding. If nothing else, the results may show whether voters think either outcome is ready to serve or just half-baked.