Tenants show interest in Swampscott depot

SWAMPSCOTT – Potential tenants have been looking at the train depot even though the town has yet to issue a Request for Proposals to lease the property.Originally discussed by the Selectmen in June, the issuance of an RFP was planned for later this summer. Instead, Department of Public Works Director Gino Cresta said he has shown the property to numerous potential tenants in the last six months.?Once people see the inside they lose interest,” Cresta said. “It would take a lot of work and a lot of money to make that a usable space.”Cresta said in the last six months the majority of inquiries were from people interested in putting in coffee shops and convenience stores.?One person wanted to open a take-out food place,” he said. “You could put in your order in the morning before getting on the train and pick up your dinner when you get off the train at night.”Cresta said one person who toured the property was interested in opening a consignment shop and another wanted to open a convenience store with a wine/beer license.Selectman Richard Malagrifa said he would like to see a business open in the depot but he admitted the cost of renovation could be prohibitive.?It wouldn’t be wise for the town to renovate it when we don’t what is going in there,” he said. “Right now it is a mess and it is torn down right to the studs inside, so I think we need to be flexible. The town would need to be open to the possibility of someone renovating the property in lieu of lease payments.”Malagrifa said because the space is not finished inside, it is the perfect property for adaptive reuse.?I know a lot of people would like to see a coffee shop there,” he said. “But in other places I have seen neighborhood bars open in places like this,” he said. “I’m not talking about a nightclub but an Irish pub or a small neighborhood bar. There are usually plenty of spaces available in that lot at night.”The town leased the historic train depot, which was built in 1868, from the MBTA for $1 per year and the town is required to maintain the building. The lease allows the town to sublet space in the depot with the prior approval of the MBTA but the town has been unable to find anyone willing to take on the expense of making it a viable site for a business.The town initially issued an RFP for the reuse of the historic property in 2005. The RFP at that time specified the lessee would have to meet minimum criteria for interior renovations and routine maintenance. The town only received one response to that request for proposals. The proposal, which was approved by the town and MBTA, was submitted by Lisa Faia who proposed a dance studio for the site. But in January 2006, plans for the dance studio were derailed after months of negotiations led her to withdraw the proposal.The train depot was renovated in the mid-1980s by an ad hoc group of residents, but it was in an advanced state of disrepair a mere decade later, so another group of residents approached the Selectmen in 1996 with a proposal to rehab the historic structure. The selectmen appointed a committee to undertake the restoration work, which got underway in May 1997. The committee raised $15,000 for the exterior restoration, but that was spent to clean out the debris that filled the interior of the building. A decorative gingerbread trim was installed, the original windows were recovered and the glass reglazed, the original doors were repaired and the exterior was painted with historically accurate colors. A sprinkler system was installed, and two clocks were installed in the tower, but work was not done on the interior.