Construction begins at future Registry of Deeds site

Salem - After more than a century at 36 Federal St., the Southern Essex Registry of Deeds is on its way to a new location at the Shetland Park complex at 27 Congress St., where it will remain for five years.

Construction has begun and registry officials expect to begin moving in the spring to the new, leased site in Shetland Park, located where the old Sears building once stood.

The registry is used daily by people buying, selling and researching North Shore properties. It also houses some of the oldest deeds in the country, dating as far back as 1639.

Some are deeds from sales of land owned by indigenous Indian tribes, land that Register John O’Brien said was often given to colonists in exchange for the equivalent of “a bag of peanuts.” There are between 20 and 25 Native America deeds from the 17th century, including some Salem properties. This part of the collection can now be partially viewed online at www.nativeamericandeeds.com, but officials are eager for the public to have access to the entire collection of original documents.

“We have gotten national attention for the Indian deeds,” O’Brien said, noting the registry received a Smithsonian award during the ‘90s for making the deeds available for public viewing on their Web site.

State officials asked the registry to move about two years ago, after unveiling plans to build the city’s new courthouse complex, the J. Michael Ruane Judicial Center, in the Federal Street area.

Although a permanent home has not yet been decided, officials have proposed the registry move into the current Salem District Court building, which will be vacated when the courthouse project is finished, in 2011 if all goes according to plan.

State funding is being sought for a study to determine whether the district court could accommodate the registry’s needs. State Rep. John Keenan, D-Salem, said earlier this year that the district court isn’t big enough to accommodate all of the deeds, but in five years it will be — thanks to more records being converted to digital and posted online.

Keenan and Mayor Kim Driscoll had lobbied for the registry’s permanent move to be to another downtown site, to keep foot traffic in the city’s commercial and retail hub. The district court plan would satisfy this concern of the local officials.

Officials have also said it makes sense to bring the registry back to the courthouse complex, as it is now. The future J. Michael Ruane Judicial Center will include the supreme, district and juvenile courts.

In the meantime, O’Brien said the five-year move to Shetland Park is a positive one for everyone. There will be plenty of parking available in an adjacent parking garage, with more than 100 free spaces available for the registry’s customers, who hail from 30 communities throughout the Southern Essex district. A shuttle bus will operate every 30 minutes on weekdays, carrying customers between the Congress Street location and the downtown.

And the new one-story space offers the registry, which is presently spread out piecemeal throughout two floors, the chance to consolidate and become more customer friendly. A welcome sign and customer service desk will greet people when they first walk in, and glass cases near the front door will display about half of the registry’s Native American deed collection. The new building also is equipped with a better climate-control system to help preserve the thousands of record books.

In March the registry will begin moving computers and office equipment into the new space. An official opening date is set for June 2.

“It’s exciting to be moving,” O’Brien said. “It’s giving us the opportunity to do great things.”

Learn more about the registry at www.salemdeeds.com, where there are links to the Native American deeds Web site and to a site that locates veterans’ memorials on the North Shore.