Marian Manor stuck in cross-fire

Marian Manor, one of the state's largest nursing homes and a beloved South Boston institution, wants to relocate to Quincy -- but first must overcome a legal challenge from a local conservation group.

The Friends of the Blue Hills contends that the West Quincy site chosen for the new facility includes a third of an acre of wetlands that were fouled when developer Granite Hills Associates built the Granite Links Golf Club next door. The conservation group wants the developer to restore the wetlands before construction of the nursing facility proceeds.

The Friends group also wants Quarry Hills to build the walking trails around the golf course that it says were promised by the developer. The golf course, built on 400 acres of former Quincy and Milton municipal landfills, sits on the edge of the state-owned Blue Hills Reservation and next to the 8-acre parcel that Quarry Hills is selling to Marian Manor.

To force the developer into action, Friends of the Blue Hills has asked the state Department of Environmental Protection to overturn a Quincy Conservation Commission permit that was issued to Marian Manor in September.

''Isn't it time Quarry Hills lives up to its responsibilities?" asked Thomas Palmer, president of the Friends of the Blue Hills. ''I'm hopeful we can break this deadlock. They have the ability to make us go away."

Marian Manor, which is run by Catholic nuns and is renowned for its quality of care, has objected to being drawn into the dispute.

''It is Tom Palmer's issue," said Robert Fleming, a lawyer for Marian Manor. ''It has nothing to do with us." Nevertheless, Fleming said, the nursing home is investigating how the sediment from the golf course project can be removed from the wetland.

Peter O'Connell, one of the principals of Quarry Hills Associates, said that the conservation group's protests are without merit, and that it has fought almost every permit issued for the golf course.

''We're pretty used to Tom Palmer's opposing everything we do," said O'Connell. ''He's sort of like white noise."

Marian Manor, with about 350 patients and 400 employees, has been struggling to maintain its outmoded Dorchester Street facility, which was built as a hospital in 1863. Its new home in Quincy would be a six-story facility on Ricciutti Drive with spectacular views of Boston and the surrounding area, and a $78 million price tag.

While Marian Manor is almost exclusively a nursing home, the new facility would have 165 independent living units plus 235 nursing home beds. There also would be housing for about 20 nuns, members of the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm.

''This development will be a true community," said Marian Manor's administrator, Sister Mark Louis Randall.

Quincy officials, who have rolled out the red carpet for Marian Manor, have voiced frustration with the Friends of the Blue Hills' appeal.

''A jewel of South Boston is coming to Quincy," said City Councilor Jay Davis, who represents West Quincy's Ward 4. ''It's fabulous for Quincy." The City Council unanimously approved a zoning permit for the project in June.

Mayor William J. Phelan said, ''It's a wonderful fit for the area. It's a beautiful setting."

Phelan said the Friends of the Blue Hills is using Marian Manor as a pawn in its dispute over the golf course. ''It's not fair. It's not right," he said.

Palmer said the Friends of the Blue Hills does not oppose the nursing facility, and the responsibility for any delays rests with Quarry Hills for refusing to build the walking trails.

''They have the ability to spring Marian Manor," Palmer said. ''We are just asking them to provide an amenity they promised they would provide."

O'Connell said the walking trails proposed by Friends of the Blue Hills would disrupt the golf course. ''They'd like to walk across the greens, and that's not going to happen," he said.

Quincy is in line to receive $1 million from the approximately $5 million sale of the Marian Manor parcel.

Although the city does not own the land being transferred, it does own much of the property where the golf course sits, and as part of its lease with Quarry Hills has rights to a portion of the proceeds if adjacent parcels are sold.

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