The money would be used to buy the land which includes a house that was built in the 1755, McCarthy said Friday.

The mayor said the one-acre slice is bordered by the former Gaebler Children's Center, 55 acres of former Metropolitan State Hospital land, and Elsie Turner Park, properties all owned by Waltham.

"It's a continuation of the Gaebler property and the Met State," McCarthy said. "It's right smack in the middle of it. The city is the abutter all the way around."

McCarthy said this purchase is a chance for the city to scoop up and preserve one of the few remaining undeveloped parcels on Trapelo Road.

She is applying for the Community Preservation Act money to use under the categories of open space, recreation and historical preservation.

The listing price for the property is $601,000, though an appraisal would need to be done if the city decided to move ahead with the purchase, McCarthy said. Ward 3 Councilor George Darcy and Councilor at large Kathleen McMenimen also signed onto to the application.

McMenimen, who lives on Trapelo Road, said the home at 385 Trapelo Road had been owned for several generations by the Millett family.

McMenimen said when she ran for a council seat in the 1970s, she met Althea Millett and her son Gladstone Millett, who McMenimen said was a sexton at the Old North Church.

McMenimen said it makes sense to preserve the one-acre parcel since all the land around it has been preserved.

"It's in a very unique position, in that there's nothing but conservation recreation land all around it," McMenimen said.

The Community Preservation Committee will consider the application at its meeting tomorrow. If the committee recommends that Community Preservation Act money used for the land, the application will be sent to the City Council for final approval.

McCarthy said she does not want to use city bond money to acquire land in the midst of an unstable economy, and instead wants to use cash from the city's Community Preservation Act till, which accumulates through property tax surcharges and state matching grants.

McCarthy also applied for $930,000 of Community Preservation Act money to buy 6.5 acres on Trapelo Road that is part of the 54-acre former Middlesex County Hospital land known as Lot 1. The City Council last week voted to set aside the funds for that purchase.

Richard Conn can be contacted at 781-398-8004 or rconn@cnc.com.
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