Swampscott Town Hall repairs under way

SWAMPSCOTT – Town Hall renovations are well underway and the $3 million project is expected to be complete early next year.At the beginning of June, town hall offices moved to the former Temple Israel property at 837 Humphrey St. where they are expected to remain at least through the end of the year.Town Hall was built in 1899 as a private residence. The building, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, was the estate of inventor and co-founder of General Electric, Elihu Thomson. It was sold to the town in 1944 and has been used as a town hall since that time, but very few modifications were made when the building underwent the transition from a private residence to a municipal building.Plans for the extensive renovation project were drawn by Reinhardt Associates and, when complete, the current 19,000 square-foot facility would be expanded to 23,000 square-feet, which would include a multi-storied connector wing between the existing Town Hall and the carriage house.According to Maylor, the project includes handicapped accessibility, system upgrades and historic preservation.The system upgrades include new central heating and air conditioning systems, updated electrical systems and fire suppression systems.Maylor said the project would reclaim unused space on the third floor of Town Hall and, once the renovations are complete, approximately two-thirds of the third floor would be utilized as office space, which he said is sorely needed.According to the plans, the three-story connector wing would be equipped with a handicapped accessible elevator. Additional meeting space on the first and second floors of the connector wing with handicapped accessible bathrooms on all three levels is also planned.Department of Public Works Director Gino Cresta said the old connector wing has already been torn down and the foundation for the new wing was poured earlier this week.Maylor said the architect worked closely with the Swampscott Historical Commission to protect the integrity of the building and the connector wing would not be visible from the front of the building.