A Maeser jolt in deed

PROVO — Ed Loose died in 1929, during the prime of Babe Ruth's career and just before his fortune disappeared into the financial black hole of the Depression.

Now, 77 years later, with Barry Bonds one shy of Ruth's historic 714 home runs, Loose has reached out from beyond the grave to throw a curve ball at the award-winning renovation of central Provo's historic Maeser School.

The project preserving the school, which closed four years ago, earned a $50,000 grant from cable station HGTV, which announced Sunday that it would film a 15-minute show about the building later this month.

The question now is whether something Loose did in 1898 might unravel the creative web of funding that saved the Maeser School from the wrecking ball.

A deed signed by Loose two days after the school opened 108 years ago surfaced this week. For $1, Loose gave the northeast quarter of the Maeser School block to the Provo School District — on one condition: The land could be used only as a playground for the Maeser School.

If the use changed, the school district had to return the land to Loose or his heirs. Somehow, the handwritten deed was missed during title searches on the property over the past two years.

The school district closed Maeser Elementary four years ago. It sold the land two years ago to the Provo Housing Authority, which cobbled together 12 funding sources to raise $5.2 million. The nonprofit deal calls for the preservation and conversion of the school into 41 apartments for active seniors.

To come up with some of the money, and to meet the requirements of some of its funding sources, the Provo Housing Authority sold the park/playground area around the school to a group that will build 12 homes on the land.

Those will be for first-time homebuyers who also will help build the homes.

Loose's great-grandson, a deputy Uintah County Attorney who focuses on civil cases, didn't know about the deed until a Maeser neighborhood resident called. "It's not the family's intention to wreak havoc, to claim title to the property," said Ed Peterson, who is named after Loose. "It is my intention that if my great-grandfather wanted a playground for kids, to ensure that there's a playground for kids."