Town Signs Agreement to Purchase St. James Plot

The town of Wellesley purchased the heavily contested plot of land today.

The board signed an agreement with the Archdiocese of Boston, who owned the land at 900 Worcester St. previously, for $3,800,000, according to Town Clerk Kathy Nagle.

The agreement is pending “several contingencies, including Town Meeting approval,” according to Nagle. Wellesley will hold a Special Town Meeting June 13 to seek approval.

St. James parishioners have held a at the church since 2006. They’ve also made to maintain the church, reaching as far as the Vatican.

St. James the Great closed in 2004 along with several area churches.

The town of Wellesley has had plans in the works on the property pending a sale.

The Board of Selectmen will hold a special meeting Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. to provide a complete report of the pending purchase, according to Nagle. They will provide a brief update at Town Meeting tonight.

Here is the full, unedited text of Nagle's announcement:

This morning the Board of Selectmen signed an agreement with the Archdiocese of Boston to purchase the 8 acre site at 900 Worcester Street commonly known as Saint James the Great Church for $3,800,000.  The purchase is subject to several contingencies, including Town Meeting approval. We will hold a Special Town Meeting on Wednesday, June 13 to seek that approval. The plan is to use the site for recreational purposes and to finance its purchase with a combination of Community Preservation Act funds and a borrowing.

        Under the agreement with the Archdiocese, we have been under strict confidentiality restrictions. We understand the Archdiocese representatives met with the Parishioners last Friday evening and we were released from those restrictions late this morning. 

       We will briefly describe the project tonight at 7:30 pm before Town Meeting gets underway. We will hold a special meeting of the Board of Selectmen on Wednesday, April 4 at 7:00pm in order to provide a complete report on the proposed project and take any questions or comments at that time.

Please make every effort to be in your seats at Town Meeting at 7:30 pm.          

   Thank you.

Kathleen F. Nagle