Fact: Maeser Elementary School has its own entry in Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia.

Fact: It's got one because what to do with the historic school, which closed in 2001, became what Mayor Lewis Billings called "the second biggest building controversy in the history of Provo."

Fact: Two weeks ago the controversy rocketed up to the next level when a century-old deed requiring a part of the land to remain a playground showed up. Said land includes part of the school and three lots intended to be houses.

Hypothesis: One year from now the Wikipedia entry is going to be a lot longer.

In 2005, the Provo City School District sold the entire block between 100 and 200 South and 400 and 500 East to the Provo Housing Authority, which had plans to renovate and convert the hundred-year-old historic building to a home for low-income senior citizens. The rest it sold to Rural Housing Development Corp. to build 12 single-family homes.

Residents in the Maeser neighborhood were split on the results. Most were happy the school wouldn't be razed but unhappy about losing the grassy area west of the school, which was the closest open space. More discussion ensued, but the issue languished, construction started on Maeser and two foundations were poured for the houses.

Then two months ago a local historian made reference to a hundred-year-old gift of land and a condition in the deed restricting what could be done with that land. A few weeks later the Maeser residents found out the planned houses weren't filled yet and started talking about ways to get their park and still have the construction projects go forward. Shortly into that discussion, the deed resurfaced.

Col. Charles Edwin Loose lived across the street from Maeser, in a big house with a spacious yard. He could look out on the new school and see the children without a yard in which to play. He bought a quarter of the block north of the school, showed up at the school board meeting on Nov. 11, 1898, offering the land to an amazed school board. The cost -- $1 and the promise, in writing, that this land would always be a playground for the schoolchildren or it reverted to his heirs.

His generosity went unremembered for almost a hundred years, until Springville historian D. Robert Carter, after admiring Loose's old home for years, ran across his name in county historic papers. Carter decided the valley needed to know all Loose had done.

"I tried to bring him to the fore, and that was one of the nice things that he did," Carter said.

Loose's great-grandson called him "quite a character," a philanthropist and a very interesting man. Ed Peterson, a deputy county attorney in Vernal, remembered stories of the colonel and his influence in politics and social life that even goes beyond the bounds of the county; Loose became friends with and took President Teddy Roosevelt hunting in the Utah woods, he said. Peterson is hoping now for a chance to honor a man he's admired for many years.

The deed says forever, but in legalese that doesn't always mean forever. David Thomas, a law professor at Brigham Young University's Clark School of Law, said conditions like this are intended to be permanent, but because of the length of time that's passed and the changes to the property since then, the question doesn't have a simple answer.

Because the condition has already been violated twice -- in 1912 when an addition to the school was built over part of Loose's donated property and in 1957 when a cafeteria and parking lot were built over most of the rest of it -- and the Provo City School District has been occupying the land for so long that the district may be able to maintain possession under the adverse possession rules. Loose's heirs probably would not be entitled to any compensation because of the length of time that has elapsed since the condition was violated.

As to who else might be compensated, since the Provo Housing Authority bought it from the school district and the Rural Housing Development Corp. bought it from the housing authority, "that is a more complex question," Thomas said.

"They might just have to eat it," he said.

There's also a question of who's liable. The title insurance companies would do an investigation to determine who, if anyone, was negligent and if any of the parties were insured against a title problem like this. Both Provo City School District, the seller, and Provo Housing Authority, the buyer, did a title search and had title insurance in case of an error.

"Nothing came back to us that there had been any previous deeds or any information that way against the property," said Greg Hudnall, director of student services for the district. "That's why we're as confused as everybody else."

Any of the parties could also choose to take the dilemma to court. Thomas said a possible option would be for the housing authority or RHDC to ask to get the condition changed on the basis that it's no longer reasonable in these circumstances and ask a judge to revise it but remain close to the original intent.

For all the possibilities, though, no one can do much right now except wait.

"But I think there's been a lot of hand-wringing too," he said. "Some people are assuming the worst."

If keeping one's fingers crossed brings good luck, 90 percent of the Maeser residents would be walking around with their hands in perpetual knots. The new twist to the story came at a perfect time for them, and since news of the deed came two weeks ago there have been meetings and discussions and questions about what this means for them.

"We mainly feel that it would be a good compromise to have a small pocket park," said Sariah Hillam, the assistant neighborhood chairwoman.

They're not asking for any of the construction to stop, she said, or even for the actual land in Loose's deed to become the park. All the neighbors want is a small park somewhere on the land instead of a couple of houses. That way the Maeser school could still be rebuilt and nine or 10 houses could go up. Plus, the elderly residents and new homeowners could benefit from the closeness of the green space, which can only be found now by crossing one of the four major streets in the neighborhood.

More than 150 residents have signed a petition of gratitude to Peterson, who has expressed his desire for the land to remain as his ancestor wanted. Hillam showed it the Provo Municipal Council Tuesday when she presented their side of the issue and asked for whatever help the city could offer the neighborhood. Other than that, they're waiting.

"It's kind of out of our hands at this point," she said.

It's out of the city's hands as well, said city spokeswoman Raylene Ireland. Officials are hoping for a mutually beneficial resolution. Municipal Councilwoman Cindy Richards publicly expressed her support for the park at the meeting and Councilman Steve Turley attended the most recent neighborhood meeting and offered to help. But officially, they've joined the audience, just watching and waiting.

"There's really no role for us to play at this point," Ireland said.

There's not much else anybody can do, even those who are involved. Provo Housing Authority Director Doug Carlson turned over the matter to legal counsel; he said any kind of resolution could take months. Until then, construction on the Maeser school will continue.

Construction on the two RHDC houses already begun will continue; neither lots are on the area in question.

Hudnall said the school district has been advised to not take any action at this time and let the title companies handle the dilemma, since the property was sold with the understanding that the title was clear, he said.

"Right now we're waiting to see what more information comes back and some legal opinions on it," Hudnall said.

Heidi Toth can be reached at 344-2543 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it