Ruling Clears Emerson's Road to Lawrence

A ruling by a superior court last week removed one of the major stumbling blocks facing Emerson College in its attempt to move from Boston's Back Bay to the city of Lawrence.

In the ruling, Judge John Forte dismissed charges brought against the city of Lawrence by a group of five landowners who claimed that the city's planned seizure of their land, under the rule of eminent domain, violated their civil rights.

By allowing the city to seize the property upon which the college has long desired to build its new campus, the judgement clears the way for Emerson's possible move to Lawrence, said James R. Ball, spokesman for the Lawrence City Development Department.

"We think it's wonderful," Ball said about the court decision Emerson had plans to move to Lawrence as early as November, 1985, but until now, legal difficulties have compelled it to consider other possible sites.

In their unsuccessful suit, the landowners claimed that the rule of eminent domain did not allow Lawrence to seize the land because of the city's plans to sell part of the land to Emerson, which is a privately owned and operated institution, Ball said.

Under Lawrence statutes, the city may claim eminent, domain only in order to take land to use for the public good. Forte ruled that bringing the college to Lawrence would raise city revenues and thus contribute to the public good.

The land Lawrence wants to seize is a 152-acre parcel on the banks of the Merrimac River. Lawrence would like to appropriate 87 acres to the college, and 65 acres to a proposed riverfront park.

Lawrence stands to gain a total of $100 million in new revenues in the 10 years following Emerson's move, according to a study commissioned by the college.

But one of the plaintiffs in the case, land developer Harold Brooks, said that the city could have gained more revenue by opening the land to other ventures.

"From what I've seen, student expenditures aren't that great, and this just isn't going to help the community Lawrence needs taxes, not a school," Brooks said.

He said he planned to appeal the case. "I'm just waiting. It's been two years now [since the case began], and it's probably going to be another year" before it's over, he said.

Emerson has never made a firm commitment to Lawrence. so even if the city eventually succeeds in obtaining the site, the college may still decide that it does not want to occupy the land after all, Brooks said.