Swampscott puts middle school out to bid again

SWAMPSCOTT – The town is preparing to put the former middle school on Greenwood Avenue out to bid again next week.The school was built in 1895 and has been used as a high school and middle school. The former school sits on a 90,000 square-foot parcel and it is expected to sell for more than $2 million.Selectman Jill Sullivan, who also serves on the Town Building Study Committee, said the Request for Proposals specifies that no more than 41 housing units could be located on that site.The extensive RFP details specifics required in the design and development including preservation of the 1895 portion of the school, architectural details, parking and green space so the development would fit in with the existing neighborhood.In November of 2008, Town Meeting voted to sell the Greenwood Avenue property and it was put out to bid unsuccessfully last year when the town only received one bid and rejected it because the offer was too low.The selectmen and Town Building Study Committee lobbied Town Meeting to change the zoning restrictions for the site to allow the town to accept proposals that included demolition of the oldest portion of the school. Sullivan said the committee is disappointed Town Meeting voted this week against removing the restriction because the committee believes allowing developers to raze the entire school would have made the parcel more attractive to potential developers.”Obviously we’re disappointed,” Sullivan said. “I understand why developers would want to tear down the old portion and I understand why Town Meeting would want to keep it. We’re going to put it out to bid and see what we get.”At Town Meeting earlier this week, Town Administrator Andrew Maylor bristled when residents said the town was not trying hard enough to sell its surplus properties. Maylor said selling town-owned property is not as simple as selling property that is privately owned because state laws govern the process. State law requires the property be put out to bid publicly and all bids must be opened at the same time and evaluated using the same criteria.The property is being listed in the Central Register May 19 and proposals from interested bidders are due July 14 at 2 p.m.