Suit to Save Park Will Proceed Despite Court Loss

Legal efforts to block the construction of a high school complex on the site of the park behind the Cambridge Public Library will continue, even though a preliminary injunction to prevent the school's construction was denied, Cambridge lawyer Robert LaTremouille said yesterday.

LaTremouille said that he is appealing the decision on the preliminary injunction, which was denied on October 12 in Superior Court.

Regardless of the outcome of the appeal, he will proceed with a suit he has filed on behalf of 12 Cambridge residents opposed to the construction of the high school, which is planned to replace Cambridge High and Latin.

No trial date has been set, pending a reply by the City to LaTremouille's complaint.

Doing the Bidding

LaTremouille's primary argument in court is that the bidding procedure that was followed was illegal. Massachusetts law states that requests for bids on municipal construction projects must be announced in a local newspaper, along with the deadline for receipt of the bids.

LaTremouille said that the announcement was made in The Cambridge Chronicle, but that after the announcement's appearance the due date was extended in a private notice to contractors.

According to Charlotte Burrage of the Cambridge Soliciter's Office, such extensions are standard procedure on construction bids. LaTremouille said, however, that this amounts to a bureaucratic amendment of the law which he termed "clearly illegal."

LaTremouille also believes that the construction of the high school would be illegal because Massachusetts law prohibits the removal of any park land without prior approval of the courts.

The City stated in an affidavit filed in Superior Court that the land in question is not technically a park and thus can be modified at will by Cambridge.

LaTremouille said, however, the affidavit referred only to the paths going through the land, and that the park is legally a park.

Even if the land were declared not to be a park, the presence of a playground on the tract would prevent the land from being used for building unless the playground land was declared excess by the courts.

LaTremouille believes this is unlikely since the neighborhood around the library has one of the smallest percentages of park land in Cambridge.

LaTremouille added that building a school on the site of the park would violate the terms under which the land was originally given to Cambridge.