NAHANT — The town and Northeastern University are resuming talks around the possible expansion of the school’s Marine Science Center.
On May 12, Town Meeting attendees voted 647-271 to enact eminent domain to block Northeastern from the property on East Point. The university hopes that, by expanding its Marine Science Center, it will attract new faculty in such areas as climate-change mitigation and coastal sustainability.
Board of Selectmen member Mark Cullinan told the Item that there has been one face-to-face meeting between the board Chairman Josh Antrim, Town Counsel, Town Administrator Antonio Barletta and Northeastern. Cullinan also noted that the two sides have had written contact several times.
Northeastern and the town have come to a mutual agreement to make all matters of the meetings confidential. However, Cullinan said, the town hopes to have more to report after the university responds to its latest letter.
“All I can say at the moment is that both sides are talking,” Cullinan said.
Northeastern has offered to pay Nahant $6 million along with setting aside eight acres as conservation land, but opponents to the expansion are worried that the 55,000-square-foot addition would diminish the charm of the area.
Keep Nahant Wild has been one of the more outspoken organizations against the expansion, saying on its website that while Northeastern wants to learn more about coastal sustainability, there are much better options for the science center.
“Northeastern University is planning to bulldoze and pave over a delicate coastal area that is home to countless wildlife, including migrating birds, honey bees, butterflies and snowy owls,” the organization wrote. “Northeastern University intends to build their ‘coastal sustainability’ institute here, even though there are alternative locations that are better options for both the surrounding environment and communities.
“This facility may also pump a million gallons of seawater per day back into the ocean at higher temps. The effects of the effluent system are untested, and local lobstermen have already noticed a decline in marine life in this area. Northeastern University is exploiting this coastal conservation land in the name of its own priorities without regard to the residents of its host community or the impact on the wildlife,” the organization said.
When asked for comment, Antrim said “we’re just trying to find a mutually agreeable-situation for both the town and Northeastern.”
While Antrim mentioned that it’s hard to say if the town is closer to an agreement with the university, he noted that the conversations have been “a step in the right direction.”
“Both sides have expressed their objectives and I think understand the other side’s objectives,” he said. “We understand each other’s objectives. In that sense, I think we’re in a better place. Whether we’re closer to an agreement or not, I’m not sure. It’s step one.”