§410cc–22 Acquisition of property

Summary

The Secretary can acquire certain named properties and any part of them in Lowell. The list includes places like the Linus Childs House (63 Kirk Street), the H and H Paper Company/Boott Mill Boarding House (42 French Street), Old City Hall (226 Merrimack Street), Merrimack Gatehouse (269 Merrimack Street), Wannalancit Textile Company (562 Suffolk Street), the buildings with the Jade Pagoda and Solomon’s Yard Goods (200 and 210 Merrimack Street), and several parcels shown on the park map (for example, 91 Pevey Street; part of 607 Middlesex Place; Eagle Court; part of 50 Payne Street; and 726 Broadway). The Secretary may get these properties by donation, by buying them with donated or budgeted money, by court action to take the land, or by other legal means. Property owned by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts or its local governments can only be taken by donation. The Secretary may use court action only after trying hard to buy the property and after talking with the Lowell commission (if there is one) and the city council. Until the local commission holds its first meeting, the Secretary may also acquire other park properties that the commission’s report says should be preserved, that are on the National Register of Historic Places, or that the Secretary finds nationally important. The Secretary can get rights to use parts of properties (easements) the same ways as above. The Secretary may trade federal land in the park for land owned by Massachusetts, the city of Lowell, or the University of Massachusetts Building Authority. Trades follow National Park Service rules, and if needed the values can be balanced with cash so the park keeps the facilities it needs.