Merrimack Valley Forum
Merrimack Valley Forum
| Also Known As | Chelmsford Forum |
| Address | 2 Brick Kiln Rd |
| Built | 1964 |
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Merrimack Valley Forum (1964 - 1985)
GLS Associates (2019 - ????) |
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The Merrimack Valley Forum is an indoor ice skating rink at 2 Brick Kiln Road in North Billerica, at the corner of Chelmsford Road on the Chelmsford line. It was built in 1964 by Merrimack Valley Sports Arena, Inc. and is now the Chelmsford Forum, owned by the Town of Chelmsford.
The rink stands on about seven acres once called the Manning land, bounded by the Chelmsford line, Black Brook, Brick Kiln Road (then "a new road") and the Billerica and Chelmsford road. William Manning of Chelmsford sold it to John J. O'Neil in 1902. The town took the lot for unpaid taxes in the 1950s, and in the fall of 1963 the selectmen advertised the "Manning Land" for sale by sealed bids. On July 14, 1964 the town deeded it to Merrimack Valley Sports Arena, Inc., and in October 1964 the company bought the adjoining land across the line in Chelmsford from Stanley and Carolina Visniewski. The 1964 town report noted that "one of the finest rinks in New England was opened in Billerica this past year," and from 1964 Billerica's sixth graders were given skating lessons there as part of the school physical education program.
At the end of 1966 the company conveyed both parcels to Nogara Investment Corp., whose treasurer, Matthew J. Brown, had also signed for the arena company. In November 1980 Nogara sold the land and rink for $600,000 to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for the University of Lowell, whose hockey team played its home games there from 1980 to 1998 and won national Division II championships in 1981 and 1982. The building was named for state senator B. Joseph Tully, and it has also been called the Billerica Forum. In 2018 the Commonwealth and the University of Massachusetts Lowell sold it to the Town of Chelmsford for $1,101,771.
References
- Billerica town report for 1964, Industrial Commission: "One of the finest rinks in New England was opened in Billerica this past year. The Merrimac Valley Forum..."
- Billerica town report for 1966: in-school skating program for sixth graders at the Forum, third consecutive year
- Billerica town report for 1985, Industrial Commission members: "Donald Lampron, Tully Forum"
- Polk Lowell City Directory 1985: "Merrimack Valley Forum indoor skating rk amusmt pl," Brick Kiln Rd, Billerica; Matthew J. Brown president
- Wikipedia, Chelmsford Forum: opened 1964 at 2 Brick Kiln Road; formerly the Tully Forum, Billerica Forum and Merrimack Valley Forum; University of Lowell hockey 1980-1998
- Billerica assessor, parcel 13-1-0: Town of Chelmsford, 7.11 acres, rink built about 1964, "Chelmsford Forum"
Deed References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
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| April 27, 1929 | Deed | William Manning of Chelmsford (Mary A. B. Manning releasing dower and homestead) | John J. O'Neil of Chelmsford | William Manning sells the seven-acre Manning lot to John J. O'Neil | 775/599 |
Signed February 7, 1902, acknowledged February 13, 1902, recorded April 27, 1929. For one dollar and other valuable consideration, "a certain lot of land situated in the westerly part of Billerica", bounded west by the Chelmsford line, north by Black Brook, east by a new road and south by the Billerica and Chelmsford Road, "Being part of the premises conveyed to me by A. B. Wright." This is the seven-acre "Manning land" on which the Merrimack Valley Forum was built in 1964. Book 775, Pages 599-600.
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| December 31, 1954 | Instrument of Taking | Lawrence E. Desmond, Collector of Taxes for the Town of Billerica | Town of Billerica | The town takes the Manning land for unpaid taxes | 1246/496 |
Recorded December 31, 1954. Taking for unpaid taxes under General Laws, Chapter 60, Sections 53 and 54, of "Seven (7) acres of land, more or less, known as Manning land" (the town's 1964 deed dates the instrument December 18, 1953). The town also acquired title by a collector's deed of land of low value (Book 1351, Page 287).
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| 1956 | Treasurer's Deed | Robert H. Fowler, Treasurer of the Town of Billerica | Town of Billerica | Treasurer's deed of the low-value tax title land, including the O'Neill parcel, to the town | 1351/287 |
Dated August 29, 1956 (per the 1974 decree). Form 4758, "Treasurer's Deed to Municipality, Land of Low Value": under General Laws Chapter 60, Sections 79 and 80, the treasurer grants to the town the parcels described in the listed instruments of taking, one of them assessed to "Francis & Harry H. Baldwin" and Lenora R. Wilson, "Marshall Orchard, 6 Acres", taking recorded Book 1261, Page 90. The schedule lists more than a dozen other lots taken for taxes (Billerica Acres, Central Park, Concord River Park, Lakeside Park, Nutting Lake Park, Pinedale Park, Rio Vista, River Pines and others). Book 1351, Page 287.
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| July 28, 1964 | Quitclaim Deed | Inhabitants of the Town of Billerica, by its Board of Selectmen (George E. Lewis, Raymond F. McColough, David G. McKenna, Stuart L. Potter, Paul F. Newman) | Merrimack Valley Sports Arena, Inc., of Boston | The town sells the Manning lot to Merrimack Valley Sports Arena, Inc., builders of the rink | 1658/80 |
Signed July 14, 1964, recorded July 28, 1964, with certificates of the selectmen and the town clerk. The selectmen had advertised the sale of the "Manning" lot of about seven acres, taken under tax title procedure (Book 1246, Page 496, and Book 1351, Page 287), with sealed bids to be opened October 4, 1963, under the town meeting vote on Article 7 authorizing sales of tax title land; the agreement with Merrimack Valley Sports Arena, Inc. was signed in October 1963. The land is bounded west by the Chelmsford line, north by Black Brook, east by a new road and south by the Billerica and Chelmsford Road, "known as Manning land", see Book 775, Page 599. Book 1658, Pages 80-84.
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| November 5, 1964 | Quitclaim Deed | Stanley Visniewski and Carolina Visniewski of Chelmsford | Merrimack Valley Sports Arena, Inc., of Boston | The arena company buys the adjoining Chelmsford land | 1672/330 |
Dated October 28, 1964, recorded November 5, 1964. The adjoining land in Chelmsford on the northeasterly side of the Lowell Turnpike (Route 129), bounded by a ditch, a brook and the Billerica and Chelmsford line (1,047.97 feet), as shown on the plan of land of James B. Carr, November 1917 (Plan Book 35, Plan 31), reserving to the grantors a fifty-foot right of way along the Chelmsford-Billerica Road connecting with a similar way over the grantee's land. Title from Joseph Visniewski and Helen Azarowski, 1957 (Book 1389, Page 508). An indenture between the company and the Visniewskis about the way is recorded at Book 1672, Page 332.
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| May 11, 1967 | Quitclaim Deed | Merrimack Valley Sports Arena, Inc., of Billerica, by Matthew J. Brown, treasurer | Nogara Investment Corp., of Lowell | Merrimack Valley Sports Arena conveys the rink to Nogara Investment Corp. | 1794/549 |
Signed December 31, 1966, recorded May 11, 1967. Parcel I, "The land in with buildings thereon" in Billerica, the seven-acre Manning land bounded by the Chelmsford line, Black Brook, a new road and the Billerica and Chelmsford Road, being the premises conveyed by the town on July 14, 1964 (Book 1658, Page 80); Parcel II, the Chelmsford land conveyed by Stanley Visniewski (Book 1672, Page 330), with the fifty-foot right of way. Book 1794, Pages 549-550.
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| November 26, 1980 | Deed | Nogara Investment Corporation of Billerica, by Matthew J. Brown, treasurer | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts through the Board of Trustees of the University of Lowell | Nogara sells the rink to the Commonwealth for the University of Lowell | 2453/408 |
Signed and recorded November 26, 1980. For $600,000, "The land with the buildings thereon, situated in Billerica and Chelmsford", Lots 1 and 2 on the "Plan of Land in Billerica and Chelmsford, Prepared for Nogara Investment Corp., September 1980, Fleming, Bienvenu & Associates Inc." (Plan Book 132, Plan 126): Lot 1 about seven acres and Lot 2 about eight acres, bounded by a ditch, a brook, the town line, Brick Kiln Road (1,107.63 feet in five courses) and Chelmsford Road and Billerica Road, subject to the fifty-foot right of way of 1964. Title from Merrimack Valley Sports Arena Inc., December 31, 1966 (Book 1794, Page 549). Book 2453, Pages 408-409.
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| February 16, 2018 | Deed | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, by its Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance, and the University of Massachusetts Lowell | Town of Chelmsford | The Commonwealth and UMass Lowell sell the rink to the Town of Chelmsford | 31871/245 |
Recorded February 16, 2018, 6 pages, for $1,101,771.33: 2 Brick Kiln Road, Billerica (the rink, assessor parcel 13-1-0, 7.11 acres) and 123 Brick Kiln Road, Chelmsford. References the 1980 deed (Book 2453, Page 408); an easement followed in 2022 (Book 37405, Page 4).
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Recorded is Book/Page at the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds unless noted.