Photo: WBZ NewsRadio
METHUEN, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — The City of Methuen is looking to sell the Searles Estate, one of its most historic landmarks.
The estate belonged to Edward Searles, an interior and architectural designer during the 19th century, who called Methuen home and is considered one of the city's founding fathers.
Wanting to preserve this historic estate, late Methuen Mayor Neil Perry had the city purchase the property for $3.25 million as one of his last major actions in office before he died.
Perry's successor, Mayor D.J. Beauregard, is moving forward with a plan to sell the estate, now assessed at $11.6 million. He told WBZ NewsRadio the city was better off without the estate's extensive upkeep and renovation costs, but that it was a top priority to keep the historic property intact.
The sale of the estate will come with restrictions from the city in order to preserve the property. The mayor's office and the city council want to make sure the buyer doesn't demolish the buildings, and will commit to preserving them. They approved a full list of requirements, including one not to sell the buildings on the estate, in April.
The city coffers are still top of mind for many in town. It has been less than a decade since Methuen found itself in a crushing financial crisis, touched off by an imbalanced police budget, that left the local public schools in a multimillion-dollar deficit.
Beauregard and others credit the late Mayor Perry and his team for getting the city out of that crisis.
"Methuen was a mess, Methuen was in a ditch, they initiated a turnaround," Beauregard said.
"What we want to do is ensure the preservation of the property but do so in a way that is responsible for the city, for the taxpayers," Beauregard said. He stressed that proposals would need to be appropriate for the space, or the city would consider keeping the property.
The city's request for proposals goes out on Wednesday morning.
WBZ NewsRadio’s Chaiel Schaffel (@CSchaffelWBZ) reports.