It took more than five years, but the Shelton Land Conservation Trust has finally taken title to a 3.4 acre property on the Shelton-Trumbull town line.
Land trust members and guests celebrated Saturday (May 4) by gathering on the property at 43 Shelton Road to dedicate the new acquisition as the Bushinsky Arboretum, named for Edward Bushinsky, who donated the land.
The tract, which overlaps the municipal border, with .6 acre lying in Trumbull, contains a pond and a patch of upland deciduous woods.
Land trust President Joe Welch said the Bushinsky property would be managed differently from other Shelton Land Conservation Trust properties.
The organization has contacted master gardeners and local garden clubs to invite them to plant flowerbeds on part of the property, turning it into a garden showcase suitable for wedding photos and other special occasions.
He said the land trust also plans to maintain a nature trail and a parking area so the property could be used for educational nature programs, and it is looking for an Eagle Scout candidate to build a small bridge to link up parts of the hiking trail.
Welch said he has also been in contact with the Trumbull Land Trust and Trumbull Conservation Commission to keep them apprised of the Shelton Land Conservation Trust’s plans.
“The Shelton Land Trust looks forward to working with our Trumbull neighbors,” he told the gathered guests.
In addition, the land trust used the occasion to show off its recently restored 1958 Massey-Ferguson farm tractor, which it will use to mow the hay fields at its Nicholdale Farm open space area in White Hills.
The bright red tractor was restored by Ed McCreery and his son Conner, who works part-time at Dragone Classic Cars, a collectable vehicle restorer in Bridgeport.
Welch said the land trust was surprised in 2007 when it was contacted by People’s United Bank, the executor of Ed Bushinsky’s estate, and informed that he left the land and his house to it in his will, along with a modest sum of money for upkeep.
He said no one in the land trust knows much about Bushinsky, except that the retiree was an avid gardener who enjoyed the outdoors. His neighbors said the frequently saw him working in his yard pulling weeds out of the pond and tending to his flowerbeds.
When land trust officers went to inspect the property, they discovered a newsletter from the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in the mailbox, Welch said.
“We’d love to have a headquarters to keep our maps and things,” he said, but added that the land trust officers quickly realized that the house, built in the 1950s, was unsuitable for that purpose and to hold educational programs because it would cost too much to make it compliant with the fire code and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
So lawyers representing the land trust and the Bushinsky estate began the long, complicated process of working out a way that the house could be torn down before the property deed was transferred.
It was complicated because it required getting approval from the state Attorney General’s office to change the conditions of Bushinsky’s will.
Demolition of the building took place in 2012.
“Last week, we finally received title of the property,” Welch said. “Being five years in the making, we definitely have something to celebrate,” he added.
He told the land trust members and guests that he thinks Bushinsky would be very happy with what had become of his property.
