Wilmington to vote on buying farm site for recreation

The Board of Selectmen on Jan. 9 unanimously approved a conditional agreement to purchase the 20.3-acre Yentile Farm on Cross Street from Century Bank for $1.18 million.

The agreement depends on the May 5 annual Town Meeting authorizing funds for the purchase. Selectmen directed town manager Michael Caira to prepare an article for Town Meeting seeking the appropriation.

Caira said officials envision building an outdoor recreational complex that would include playing fields and potentially such other facilities as tennis, basketball, and bocce courts. Portions of the site that cannot be developed because of wetlands would remain open space with possibly some walking trails created.

“There is a real serious need for more field space in town,’’ Caira said, citing the growth in youth sports programs and the limited number of existing places to play. “We aren’t able to rest any of our fields, so they have become difficult to maintain.’’

Selectmen have taken some steps to address the problem the past few years, according to Caira. He cited the opening last spring of a new soccer field behind a former school. He also pointed to the decision to make the future new high school Alumni Field artificial turf, thus greatly expanding its possible use, and plans for a new all-purpose grass field at the school. But he said more needs to be done.

Caira said he will be recommending that the town fund the land purchase through its free, or available cash, avoiding the need for a tax increase. He said the town has built up a $9.5 million free cash reserve for just such “extraordinary one-time purposes.’’

If the purchase goes forward, Caira said he envisions selectmen will name a committee to develop specific plans for the site. A future Town Meeting would be asked to appropriate funds for the recreational facilities, but Caira said the town would hope to defray some of those costs through grants and private donations.

“This is by far the town’s most exciting land purchase in decades,’’ Selectman Michael Newhouse, an active participant in the process, said by e-mail. “We will be able to provide much-needed field and recreational space for our residents, and particularly our young people, in a prime location, all at a reasonable cost.

“This is a great example of how important it is to build cash reserves, so we can be ready and able to pounce on a good deal when the opportunity presents itself,’’ Newhouse said.

The property, located just off Main and Lowell streets, was sold by the Yentile family in 2005 for $4.2 million to a developer who planned to build 76 condominium units for people 55 and older.

Caira said the town at that time had been interested in buying the land, but its $2.1 million offer fell well below what the developer was willing to pay for it.

The development was fully permitted but never went forward, according to Caira. He said Century Bank foreclosed on the property and put it up for auction. But after failing to receive any bids meeting its expectations, the bank put the land on the market. Knowing of Wilmington’s interest in the property, the bank agreed to negotiate with the town, leading to the recent agreement.

Wilmington Youth Soccer, which has more than 1,300 children in its program, is enthusiastically backing the proposed land purchase, according to the group’s president, Ed Riekstins.

“One of the tough things about Wilmington is that we have some great sports programs but we have an absolute lack of field space,’’ Riekstins said. “The other issue is that our fields are really deteriorated. The Department of Public Works does a great job, but because they are overused, the quality of the fields we have is constantly degraded, and getting worse.’’

The late Rocco and Rose Yentile purchased the property in 1934 and their family operated the farm until they sold the land in 2005, according to Vincent Yentile, one of their two surviving children.

At one time, the farm had animals, including more than 100 milking cows, but it was primarily used to produce and sell fruits and vegetables, and later flowers, according to Yentile, who still lives in Wilmington about a mile away.

“We used to ship a lot of produce to the First National and A&P stores,’’ he said. “During World War II, we used to sell a lot to the Army. We grew a lot of scallions, carrots, celery.’’

He said the family decided to sell the land because its younger members did not want to carry on with the farming operation, said Yentile, a retired engineer who headed up the farm in its latter years.

Yentile said his family supports the proposed land purchase and the plan for the site.

“I think it’s a good idea. It will be open space,’’ he said.

“You will go by there, and it will be just like the farm is still there.’’