In 2018, the university announced plans to expand its Marine Science Center. Nahant claimed it had promised to keep the land public.

In an unanimous decision, the Massachusetts Appeals Court ruled that the North Shore town and a local land trust failed to present an legal argument strong enough to block Northeastern’s plans to expand the center on 12 acres that abut the town’s Henry Cabot Lodge Park.

A planned expansion of a Northeastern University’s Marine Science Center in Nahant can move forward after winning a state appeals court ruling. The ruling on Monday revolved around a long-ago assurance from the university that part of the site would become a nature preserve.