The Committee appointed June 21, 1899, to arrange for the celebration of the one hundred and twenty-fifth anniversary of the Concord Fight, report in part as follows:
It seemed wise to the committee that some permanent memorial should be provided in connection with this celebration, just as in 1835 the monument at the Old North Bridge, and in 1875 the Minute Man were made permanent memorials.
The Middlesex Hotel property, so long an unsightly object on our public square, has been purchased for the sum of seven thousand five hundred dollars, and is now offered to the Town at that price, to be used hereafter by the Town for the site of a memorial hall, or a municipal office building, or for other similar municipal purposes, and in the meantime to be used as a public park.
A large area of land, now commonly used as a part of the highway and sidewalk, belongs to this property and should come into the rightful possession of the Town as it has long been in the actual use of the public.
That part of the land bordering upon Main Street might well be used for a municipal office building, or could be sold for store purposes, thus reducing the cost of the whole to the town.
The land back of the stores on the north side of the Mill-dam could be sold to the owners of those stores, thus further reducing the cost.
That part of the land bordering upon Monument Square might for the present be used as a public park, and in the future used as the site of some public building.
The General Court has just passed an act providing that “the Town of Concord is hereby authorized to raise and appropriate money to procure some permanent memorial of the Concord Fight for the one hundred and twenty-fifth anniversary of the event.”
The Committee believe that the plan of acquiring this valuable property at this price for public purposes and of removing the present unsightly building will commend itself to all citizens who have the present and future welfare of the Town at heart, and they believe also that the Town can find no better present to bestow upon itself upon this anniversary.
The Committee have therefore requested the Selectmen to insert in the warrant for the town meeting to be held Saturday, March 3rd, at 7:30 P.M., articles under which action must be taken to carry out this plan.
For the Committee,
Richard F. Barrett,
Chairman