Peggy Hannon-Rizza Recreation Complex
Peggy Hannon-Rizza Recreation Complex
| Built | 1950 |
Lampson Memorial Field is the town football field off Campbell Road, south of Concord Road in Billerica Center. It is the oldest part of the town recreation grounds now called the Peggy Hannon-Rizza Recreation Complex (addressed as 1 Ed Hayes Way and 20 Campbell Road), which also has softball and practice fields, tennis and pickleball courts, a basketball court, a playground and the old field house. The town accepted the land in 1950 as the Memorial Athletic Field, usually shortened to Memorial Field, and by 1973 it was styled the Charles E. Lampson Memorial Field, after the longtime Howe High School football coach Chuck Lampson. The 1950 Memorial Field and the later Lampson Field are the same ground.
The land was once part of the "Shed place", a farm of about fifty-six acres "about half a mile southerly of the meeting house" on the road from Billerica to Concord, bounded by the lane to the Isaac French place, the land of Samuel Whiting and the Stickney farm. In April 1823 Luther French sold "one undivided half" of it, "with all the buildings thereon, commonly called the Shed place", for $685 to William, Mary and Fanny Bowers, children of Dr. William Bowers of the Old Providence House; in 1824 Josiah Crosby released a mortgage that French had given on the farm in 1819, and William Bowers later passed his share to his sisters. The unmarried Bowers sisters left their property to charity. Priscilla Bowers's will gave her estate, including "1/18 of Shed farm", to the Baptist church, and Mary and Fanny Bowers left theirs to the town "for the benefit of the poor", the beginning of the town's Bowers Fund. On May 31, 1871 the First Baptist Church and Society sold its eighteenth part of the "Shed place" to Charles E. Gorham for $119.44, and the town, through a committee of Dudley Foster, Israel A. Colson and David L. Mason, sold him the other seventeen eighteenths, 49 acres "with an old house thereon", for $2,330.56. Gorham sold the farm to Dudley Foster in May 1887 for $50 and the mortgages on it, and two weeks later Foster sold it for $1,500 to Moses C. Mitchell, who moved his boys' school to these grounds after its building at the Center burned in 1888 (see Mitchell Boys' School).
After Mitchell's death his widow, Mary H. Mitchell, had the land surveyed by R. M. Jacobs as "Mitchell Estates" in 1935 (Plan Book 59, Plan 16), with house lots on Concord Road and Campbell Road and paper streets behind them. In November 1935 she deeded the land east of a dividing line to her son Alexander H. Mitchell and the western part, with the school buildings, to the Mitchell School corporation, subject to a $20,000 mortgage to Anna Zisman that was assigned to Blanche S. Mitchell in 1939. The school's main building burned in 1935 and the school closed during the war. In April 1947 Blanche S. Mitchell sold four blocks of the plan to John F. Poole of Boston, and in August 1948 Poole conveyed them, and Blanche Mitchell conveyed a fifth block, to three Billerica men, Thomas S. Taylor, Roger H. Hildreth and Austin F. Perry. The Mitchell School corporation quitclaimed all its Mitchell Estates land to Blanche Mitchell at the same time. The lots ran from Stuart Road east to a stone wall on the Mason land, and the northern block was bounded "by the shore of a pond".
Taylor, Hildreth and Perry built an athletic field there and gave it to the town. The town meeting of February 11, 1950 voted under Article 13 to "accept a deed of the Athletic Field and land adjacent thereto located on the Mitchell Estates, together with bleacher seats", on condition that it be run by a commission of three appointed by the moderator and "be used solely for athletic activities of the Town, preference and priority to be given to the High School athletics", with admission charges allowed. The town could still sell it "free and clear of all conditions" by a later vote. Article 14 raised $3,500 for a fence and equipment for the "Memorial Athletic Field". The moderator named Roger W. Hildreth, Thomas Taylor and William E. Eggo as the first Memorial Athletic Field Commission. The deed, dated August 3, 1950, was recorded on August 14 (Book 1148, Page 432). Some accounts say the town bought the sports fields in 1948; the 1948 purchase was by the three townsmen, and the town received the field by their deed in 1950.
One of the two portable classrooms removed from the Ditson School went to the commission in 1950 as a field house, and the school report for 1950 said that "with the new Memorial Field now in operation, we have an athletic plant the equal of any in neighboring towns". The 1951 season was the first in which Howe High School played its football games there, and under Coach Lampson the 1952 team went undefeated and won the state Class D championship. In 1952 the town voted $3,500 from the Gray Street Bridge account for a permanent field house. William Eggo chaired the commission through the 1950s, with Arthur Barnard and Thomas O'Neill and later Maurice Ellis and Wesley Spaulding, and the field was rented out for other events. In 1960 the town meeting put Memorial Field under the Park Department.
The Recreation Commission concentrated on the field after 1969. The 1970 town meeting voted, 139 to 1, to buy or take by eminent domain lots of the Mitchell Estates plan next to the field for parking, and the Billerica Hockey Association turned the field house back to the town. An access road to Glad Valley Drive was built in 1971. High school football was played at Memorial Field for the last time in 1972 before moving to the Marshall School, and the 1973 town meeting voted $10,000 to light "the football field at the Charles E. Lampson Memorial Field" for night games, which the Pop Warner league used. In 1975 the Park Department cleared woods at the "Chuck Lampson Memorial Football Field" on Campbell Road for a girls' softball field and eight tennis courts, four of them lighted. A toddler playground, a clay infield, a basketball court and an electronic scoreboard followed between 1978 and 1982, the field house was being fitted up as a summer office for the Recreation Department in 1985, and in 1986 the football field was resodded and given an irrigation system.
In 2013 the recreation complex at Campbell Road and Ed Hayes Way was formally dedicated to Peggy Hannon-Rizza, the longtime recreation director. A state PARC grant of $400,000 in 2017 paid for court and parking lights, fencing and an accessible shade shelter, with a trail planned around the abutting ponds, and the fields were redesigned and rebuilt with Community Preservation and borrowed funds from 2019, the complex being scheduled to reopen in the spring of 2022. The town meeting of 2017 described the land as held by the Town "under the custody of the Recreation Commission as land dedicated to active Parks and Recreation". The football field keeps the Lampson name.
Title References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
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| 1823 | Deed | Luther French of Billerica, yeoman (Sally French releasing dower) | William Bowers, gentleman, Mary Bowers and Fanny Bowers, all of Billerica | 1823: Luther French sells half of the 56-acre "Shed place" to William, Mary and Fanny Bowers | 250/116 (South) |
Billerica town book 13, pages 250-251. Dated April 22, 1823, acknowledged April 23 before Joseph Locke JP. For $685, "one undivided half of a tract of land situate in said Billerica about half a mile southerly of the meeting house with all the buildings thereon, commonly called the Shed place, containing about fifty six acres more or less", bounded from the lane leading to the house lately owned by Isaac French at land lately of Cyrus French, by that lane and "the road leading from Billerica to Concord" to land of Samuel Whiting Esq., then by Whiting, land lately of Simon Forrester, land of Rev. Jacob Norton and land of Josiah Bowers ("lately the Stickney farm"), and by land lately of Isaac French; "excepting from the above grant, the barn standing on the premises, in which the said Luther has no right". Also an undivided half of "the Shed orchard", about three acres by the same road and land of Col. John Parker, excepting a small burying ground "in which there are two tombs enclosed". The grantees were children of Dr. William Bowers of the Old Providence House.
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| October 19, 1824 | Quitclaim | Josiah Crosby of Billerica, Esq. | William Bowers, gentleman, Mary Bowers and Fanny Bowers, gentlewomen, all of Billerica | 1824: Josiah Crosby releases Luther French's 1819 mortgage of the Shed place to the Bowers | 256/348 (South) |
Billerica town book 13, pages 297-298. Dated Oct. 18, 1824, acknowledged the same day before Joseph Locke JP. For one dollar, Crosby quitclaims "a certain farm or tract of land situate in said Billerica with the buildings thereon standing containing about fifty five acres more or less and is the same conveyed to me by mortgage deed from Luther French dated the first day of November A.D. 1819": the release of French's mortgage on the Shed place.
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| June 2, 1842 | Quitclaim | William Bowers of Billerica, yeoman | Mary Bowers of Billerica, singlewoman (his sister) | 1831: William Bowers releases the other half of the Shed place, from Jonathan Bowers's estate, to his sister Mary | 415/471 (South) |
Billerica town book 17, pages 296-297. Dated June 7, 1831, acknowledged July 27, 1831 before Marshall Preston JP; recorded June 2, 1842. For one dollar, "all my right, title, interest, and estate in and to the one undivided half of the Shed place, so called, situate in said Billerica being a part of the Real Estate of Jonathan Bowers Esq. deceased, containing forty nine acres and eighty one rods, more or less, with one undivided half of the dwelling house thereon and the whole of the Barn", bounded from the northeast corner at land of Samuel Whiting Esq. and "the road leading from Billerica to Bedford", by that road to "the road leading by the Grave yard to Isaac French place", by the heirs of Cyrus French and widow Hannah French to "the Causeway lot so called", and back by Josiah Bowers, Jacob Norton, "the Bell meadow so called", John Eames and Whiting, "not including the little pasture on the West side of said road". This was the other half of the farm, from the estate of Jonathan Bowers Esq.
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| March 16, 1869 | Will | Estate of Priscilla Bowers of Billerica, singlewoman (d. Feb. 22, 1869) | The First Baptist Church in Billerica (remainder, after the deaths of her sisters Mary and Fanny Bowers) | Priscilla Bowers's will (1869): her 1/18 of the Shed farm to the Baptist church | Probate #27759 |
Will of December 9, 1862, allowed at Lowell March 16, 1869, Dudley Foster executor: after a $500 legacy, "to the Baptist Church in Billerica all the remainder of my Property, Real, Mixed or Personal, to be by the Chh. kept as a fund, the interest of which to be expended for the support of Preaching in the Baptist Meeting house", the legacy "not to [be] paid till after the decease of my Sisters Mary & Fanny Bowers". Her heirs at law were those two sisters. The May 1869 inventory lists "1/3 of Homestead undivided 1 1/2 acres" at $1000 and "1/3 of Old Homestead 24 acres" at $800 among $3650 of real estate.
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| May 17, 1870 | Will | Estate of Mary Bowers of Billerica, singlewoman (d. 1870) | The Town of Billerica, for the benefit of the poor | Mary Bowers's will (1870): her estate to the town for the poor | Probate #27756 |
Will of December 9, 1862, allowed at Lowell May 17, 1870, Dudley Foster executor: "I give and bequeath to the Town of Billerica, all the Property Real, Mixed or Personal of which I may be possessed at the time of my decease, for the benefit of the poor of said Billerica. This legacy not to be paid untill after the decease of my Sisters Priscilla and Fanny Bowers." The town sold the two-thirds of the Bowers Homestead it received from Mary and Fanny Bowers to William H. Osborn in 1871.
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| May 2, 1872 | Quitclaim | The Members of the First Baptist Church and Society in Billerica, by Edward Spaulding and Geo. C. Gilman, committee | Charles E. Gorham of Billerica | 1871: the First Baptist Church sells its 1/18 of the Shed place to Charles E. Gorham | 86/117 |
Dated May 31, 1871, under a vote of a church and society meeting of May 1, 1871; acknowledged before Dudley Foster JP; recorded May 2, 1872. For $119.44, "one undivided eighteenth part of a certain parcel of land known as the 'Shed place' situate in said Billerica, containing forty nine acres & eighty one rods, more or less", from the northeast corner at land formerly of Samuel Whiting and "the road leading to Bedford", by that road to "the road leading by the grave yard to the 'Isaac French place'", by land formerly of the heirs of Cyrus French and of widow Hannah French to "the Causeway lot, so called", and back by land formerly of Josiah Bowers, Jacob Norton, "the Bell meadow, so called", John Eames and Samuel Whiting. "Being part of the real estate devised to said grantors by Priscilla Bowers."
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| May 2, 1872 | Quitclaim | The Inhabitants of the Town of Billerica, by Dudley Foster, Israel A. Colson and David L. Mason, committee; Dudley Foster, Treasurer | Charles E. Gorham of Billerica | 1871: the town sells its 17/18 of the Shed place, left it by Mary and Fanny Bowers, to Gorham | 86/118 |
Dated May 31, 1871, under a vote of town meeting of May 1871; acknowledged before Charles H. Parker JP; recorded May 2, 1872. For $2,330.56, "seventeen undivided eighteenth parts of a certain parcel of land known as the 'Shed place'", 49 acres 81 rods "with an old house thereon", the same bounds as the church's deed. "Being part of the real estate devised to said grantors by Mary Bowers and Fanny Bowers." The two deeds together brought $2,450 for the whole farm.
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| May 19, 1887 | Warranty Deed | Charles E. Gorham of Billerica, unmarried | Dudley Foster of Billerica | 1887: Gorham sells the Shed place to Dudley Foster for $50 and the mortgages | 188/149 |
Dated May 17, 1887, acknowledged May 18 before Joseph P. Thompson JP. For $50, "a certain parcel of land known now or formerly as the 'Shed Place'", 49 acres 81 rods, the same bounds. "Being the same premises conveyed to me by Dudley Foster, Treasurer of the Inhabitants of the Town of Billerica, by his deed dated May 31st A.D. 1871 ... Book 86, Page 118." Subject to two mortgages that the grantee assumes, one to Dudley Foster as Treasurer (Book 129 Page 515) and one to Susie E. Burns of Billerica (Book 130 Page 112).
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| June 3, 1887 | Warranty Deed | Dudley Foster of Billerica (Mary P. Foster releasing dower and homestead) | Moses C. Mitchell of Billerica | 1887: Dudley Foster sells the 49-acre Shed place to Moses C. Mitchell for $1,500 | 189/55 |
Pages 55-56. Dated May 25, 1887. For $1,500, "a certain parcel of land known as the 'Shed Place', situated in said Billerica, containing forty-nine acres and eighty-one rods, more or less", beginning at the northeast corner at land formerly of Samuel Whiting and "the road leading to Bedford", westerly and southwesterly by that road to "the road leading by the grave yard to the Isaac French Place", southerly 30 rods to land formerly of the heirs of Cyrus French, around their land and land formerly of Hannah French to "the Causeway lot, so called", and northerly by land formerly of Josiah Bowers, Jacob Norton, John Eames and Whiting to the beginning. "Being the same premises conveyed to me by Charles E. Gorham deed dated May, 1887" (book and page left blank). Mitchell moved his boys' school here after the 1888 fire.
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| December 7, 1935 | Quitclaim Deed | Mary H. Mitchell of Billerica, widow | Alexander H. Mitchell of Billerica | 1935: widow Mary H. Mitchell gives the land east of the Mitchell Estates line to her son Alexander | 876/242 |
Pages 242-243. Dated Nov. 22, 1935, acknowledged before Roland G. Wright; consideration less than $100. Land "known as Billerica Ctr." on the "Plan of land of Mitchell Estates, Billerica Center, Mass." dated April 28, 1935, by R. M. Jacobs: "all the land I own East of the Boundary line" running south from a stone bound on Concord Road (435.46 and 572.20 feet, east 76.06 feet, south 549.18 feet), with a right of way over Mitchell Road to Concord Road. "For my title see records of Probate Court, Estate of Moses C. Mitchell, Docket #98722 Middlesex Probate Court." The athletic field lots lie west of this line.
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| December 7, 1935 | Mortgage | Mary H. Mitchell of Billerica, widow | Anna Zisman of Boston | 1935: $20,000 mortgage of the school grounds to Anna Zisman | 876/243 |
Pages 243-245. Dated Nov. 22, 1935. To secure $20,000 in one year at five per cent, the same western land "with the buildings thereon" on the Mitchell Estates plan, with the same exceptions. Margin notes: assignments Book 921 Page 51 and Book 938 Page 162 (to Blanche S. Mitchell), partial releases Books 985, 997, 1005, 1008, and releases on sale Book 1014 Page 84 and Book 1031 Page 174.
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| December 7, 1935 | Deed | Mary H. Mitchell of Billerica, widow | Mitchell School, a Massachusetts corporation | 1935: Mary H. Mitchell deeds the school grounds, the later field, to the Mitchell School corporation | 876/245 |
Pages 245-247. Dated Nov. 22, 1935, acknowledged in Suffolk County the same day; consideration less than $100. The land "with the buildings thereon" in Billerica Centre on the 1935 Mitchell Estates plan, west of the line to Alexander H. Mitchell: bounded by Concord Road, French Street, land of Paris, McElligott, unknown owners and Mason, excepting the house lots of Blocks A, B and C along Concord Road and Campbell Road. "For my title see records of Probate Court, Estate of Moses C. Mitchell, Docket #98722." Subject to taxes for 1935 and "to a mortgage given by the said grantor to Anna Zisman in the sum of $20,000".
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| November 24, 1939 | Assignment of Mortgage | Anna Zisman | Blanche S. Mitchell | 1939: the Zisman mortgage is assigned to Blanche S. Mitchell | 938/162 |
Recorded Nov. 24, 1939, entered in the grantee index (1926-1940, Mitchell, p. 218) as "Asst. 876-243": the assignment of the 1935 Zisman mortgage of the Mitchell School grounds to Blanche S. Mitchell, who sold the field lots in 1947 and 1948.
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| July 24, 1947 | Quitclaim Deed | Blanche S. Mitchell of Billerica, unmarried | John F. Poole of Boston | 1947: Blanche S. Mitchell sells four blocks of the old school grounds to John F. Poole | 1072/327 |
Pages 327-328. Dated April 28, 1947, acknowledged in New London County, Connecticut; stamps $2.20. Four parcels on the 1935 Mitchell Estates plan: Lots 1 to 4 in Block H, bounded south by Anderson Avenue 400 feet, east by Hall Street 188 feet, "Northerly by the shore of a pond" 420 feet and west by Stuart Road; Lots 1 to 8 in Block G between Symonds Street, Hall Street, Anderson Avenue and Stuart Road; Lots 1 to 5 in Block F, east by "a stone wall and land now or formerly of one Mason"; and Lots 5 to 7 in Block D, west by a stone wall and land of Paris. No title reference. The streets named are paper streets of the plan.
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| August 12, 1948 | Quitclaim Deed | John F. Poole of Boston, unmarried | Thomas S. Taylor, Roger H. Hildreth and Austin F. Perry, all of Billerica, joint tenants | 1948: Poole conveys the four blocks to Thomas S. Taylor, Roger H. Hildreth and Austin F. Perry | 1098/18 |
Pages 18-19. Dated Aug. 11, 1948. The same four parcels (Block H Lots 1 to 4, Block G Lots 1 to 8, Block F Lots 1 to 5, Block D Lots 5 to 7). "Being the same premises conveyed to me by Blanche S. Mitchell by deed dated April 28, 1947 ... Book 1072, Page 327. See also deed from the Mitchell School to said Blanche S. Mitchell to be recorded."
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| August 16, 1948 | Quitclaim Deed | Mitchell School, a Massachusetts corporation, by Blanche S. Mitchell, Treasurer | Blanche S. Mitchell of Billerica | 1948: the Mitchell School corporation quitclaims all its Mitchell Estates land to Blanche S. Mitchell | 1099/361 |
Pages 361-363. Dated Aug. 10, 1948, acknowledged in Los Angeles; trustees' vote of Aug. 4, 1948 at 627 Exchange Building, Boston. "For nominal consideration paid", "all its right, title and interest in and to any land situated in said Billerica and more particularly shown on" the 1935 Mitchell Estates plan, "together with any buildings thereon". Recorded with the next deed, as the 1947 deed to Poole had promised.
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| August 16, 1948 | Quitclaim Deed | Blanche S. Mitchell of Billerica, unmarried | Thomas S. Taylor, Roger H. Hildreth and Austin F. Perry, all of Billerica, joint tenants | 1948: Blanche S. Mitchell sells Block E to Taylor, Hildreth and Perry | 1099/363 |
Dated Aug. 10, 1948, acknowledged in Los Angeles; stamps 55 cents. Lots 1 to 6 in Block E on the 1935 Mitchell Estates plan, bounded west by land of McElligott 165.63 feet, north by Symonds Street 670 feet, east by land of Mason 185 feet and south by "land of unknown owners" 734.68 feet. "For title reference see Deed of Mitchell School to Blanche S. Mitchell to be recorded herewith."
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| August 14, 1950 | Quitclaim Deed | Thomas S. Taylor, Roger H. Hildreth and Austin F. Perry, all of Billerica (Grace M. Taylor, Audrey W. Hildreth and Florence W. Perry releasing dower and homestead) | The Inhabitants of the Town of Billerica | 1950: Taylor, Hildreth and Perry deed the Memorial Athletic Field to the town | 1148/432 |
Pages 432-433. Dated Aug. 3, 1950, acknowledged at Lowell the same day; recorded Aug. 14, 1950. "For consideration paid", five parcels on the 1935 Mitchell Estates plan: Lots 1 to 4 in Block H (north "by the shore of a pond"), Lots 1 to 8 in Block G, Lots 1 to 5 in Block F, Lots 5 to 7 in Block D, "Being the same premises conveyed to us by John F. Poole ... Book 1098, Page 18", and Lots 1 to 6 in Block E, "Being the same premises conveyed to us by Blanche S. Mitchell ... Book 1099, Page 363". Accepted under Article 13 of the town meeting of Feb. 11, 1950: "a deed of the Athletic Field and land adjacent thereto located on the Mitchell Estates, together with bleacher seats", on condition that a commission of three control it and that it "be used solely for athletic activities of the Town, preference and priority to be given to the High School athletics".
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| October 13, 2017 | Order of Conditions | Billerica Conservation Commission; John Curran; Billerica Recreation | Town of Billerica (20 Campbell Road) | 2017: Conservation Commission order for the recreation complex improvements | 31555/134 |
Recorded Oct. 13, 2017, 18 pages, for 20 Campbell Road, citing the 1950 deed (Book 1148 Page 432): the Conservation Commission's order for the improvements of the 2017 state PARC grant at the Peggy Hannon-Rizza Recreation Complex. Certificate of compliance Book 39049 Page 109 (2025).
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| January 14, 2022 | Decision | Billerica Board of Health; Town of Billerica; John Curran | Town of Billerica (1 Ed Hayes Way and 20 Campbell Road) | 2022: Board of Health decision for 1 Ed Hayes Way and 20 Campbell Road | 36729/39 |
Recorded Jan. 14, 2022, 7 pages, for 1 Ed Hayes Way and 20 Campbell Road, citing the 1950 deed: a Board of Health decision made during the 2021-2022 rebuilding of the complex.
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| May 27, 2022 | Easement | Town of Billerica, by its Selectmen | Massachusetts Electric Company | 2022: electric easement to Massachusetts Electric at 1 Ed Hayes Way | 37100/59 |
Recorded May 27, 2022, 6 pages, for one dollar: an electric easement at 1 Ed Hayes Way, citing the 1950 deed (Book 1148 Page 432).
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Recorded is Book/Page at the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds unless noted; Probate # is a Middlesex probate case, Ctf a Land Court certificate of title.
References
- Town reports 1950-1954: Feb. 11, 1950 town meeting, Art. 13 (acceptance of the Athletic Field deed) and Art. 14; field house; first football season
- Town reports 1955-1959: Memorial Field Commission, rentals, 1957 drainage at Memorial Field and Concord Road
- Town reports 1960-1964: 1960 Art. 30 puts Memorial Field under the Park Department
- Town report 1970: Art. 30, land next to Memorial Field for parking; Recreation Study Committee
- Town report 1973: Art. 15, lights for the football field at the Charles E. Lampson Memorial Field
- Town report 1975: tennis courts and softball field at the Chuck Lampson Memorial Football Field, Campbell Road
- Town report 2013: the recreation complex at Campbell Road and Ed Hayes Way dedicated to Peggy Hannon-Rizza
- Howe HS / Billerica Memorial HS football history: Memorial Field on Campbell Road, home field from 1950