Note: Most of the contracts you encounter as a librarian or archivist will be governed by state law. The basic elements of contract law set forth in this chapter may differ from state to state. Fargo Public Library, Plaintiff and Appellant, v.
The Fargo Public Library entered into a written contract with the City of Fargo Urban Renewal Agency on June 8, , after several months of negotiations, for the purchase of a tract of land within the Project Area of the North Dakota R-1 Urban Renewal Project located in an area in the city of Fargo, North Dakota, for the purpose of constructing a library building thereon.
As a part of said contract, by addendum, the Public Library was permitted to redevelop this property or lease it for the purpose of off-street parking, with the intention to eventually construct a library building on the property, but without any requirements as to the time of the beginning or completion of the construction of the library building.
A deed to the property, dated June 20, , was subsequently executed by the Renewal Agency and delivered to the Public Library conveying the property to the Public Library. The contract was a printed form prepared by the Renewal Agency and used by it in its transactions with Public Library and others who desired to purchase tracts within the Project Area for the purpose of development under a program for the clearance and reconstruction of slum and blighted areas in the city of Fargo.
Some time prior to the making of this contract, three buildings wholly or partly upon the purchased property, known as the Berry Building, the Flamer Hotel and the Cliquot Club, were demolished by the Renewal Agency by a contractor during the course of the fall of and the winter of , with the final payment to the contractor who demolished the buildings made in May of At the time the Public Library entered into the contract for the purchase of the property the old buildings had been demolished and the property had been leveled and graded to the surface of the surrounding property.
