Preserving History in Massachusetts

I love the story behind this and being that I rarely give an opinion on here, I think I will this time. I wholeheartedly support the town in upholding this will. In 1661, a resident of Ipswich, Massachusetts, William Payne, willed 35 pristine acres along the shore, stating it should be for the benefit of the public school children and never be sold or wasted. This will spurred tenants to build 167 cottages along the 35-acres which generated nearly $2.4 million for the public schools over the previous 25 years. Now the trustees of the will are looking to destroy it and sell the cottages to the tenants in order to settle a lawsuit by the residents for rent increases. However, and thankfully, hundreds of residents have step up to fight this decision, saying it will break the will's intent and hurt the funds for the public school system. Many opponents of the settlements consider the trustees incompetent for having mismanaged the property for so long and having gotten the property in this mess in the first place. It seems like a tough spot that the property has been put in and it might be tough for them to get out of but bottom line is I hope they create a solution that will keep the property intact and maintaining the integrity of William Payne's will.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/fate-of-351-year-old-will-sparks-bitter-dispute-between-trustees-residents-in-mass-city/2012/02/24/gIQAf62TYR_story.html