Swampscott residents take new look at old sites

SWAMPSCOTT – An arts center? Condominiums? A helipad for Gov. Baker? Swampscott residents had many suggestions about the future of four town-owned vacant properties in an open brainstorming forum Wednesday.”We heard a lot of different ideas, a lot of different paths that the town could take,” Swampscott Town Planner Pete Kane said at the conclusion of the forum Wednesday. “Thankfully we have some ideas of what this representation of people wants.”About 75 people gathered in the high school cafeteria Wednesday night to discuss the potential future for the four properties: the Machon Elementary School; Greenwood Avenue School (the old middle school); the old police station on Burrill Street; and the former senior center on Burrill Street.Groups of five or six were each assigned one of the four properties and asked to discuss whether the town should sell/retain ownership and/or try to lease the property; whether the building should be renovated or torn down; and five potential uses for the property. Each group then reported their results.There were common ideas suggested for all of the properties: a community center with live/work space for artists; shared-office space; open space; and affordable housing.Several groups also suggested that Machon and Greenwood Avenue School be kept by the town for use as school space – either as space for students while other schools are undergoing future renovations; or (most often, specifically, the Greenwood Avenue School) as a possible site for another elementary school.”If we sell them, then need them, it’s going to be harder than the dickens to get it back,” resident Barbara Gherzi said, speaking of her group’s suggestions for the Machon School. “Who can predict what the schools will need? We sell out the future of our kids.”Other popular options for each property included:For Machon: open space to extend Jackson Park; artists’ live/work space, including a performing arts space, and senior affordable housing.For Greenwood Avenue: A hilltop park, a community center, and a helipad for Baker.Residents noted the two locations on Burrill Street are near civic services and institutions, such as the post office, library, the train station, and Town Hall.Suggestions shared by each property included additional municipal office space, shared office space, or a teen center.Other ideas included:For the senior center: senior affordable housing, parking lot, community garden, and a basketball court.Finally, for the police station: extending the fire station, a space for Big Blue bargains, and an animal shelter.Not that there weren’t suggestions that the properties be sold and developed, mostly as single-family homes for the larger sites and condos for the senior center. However, there was a common theme about the potential private developments ? “keeping with the neighborhood,” said resident Drew Epstein, before criticizing the Concordia Project on Humphrey Street and the condo development on Burrill Street.”This is part of being a part of your town,” Town Administrator Tom Younger said in concluding the evening. “It won’t take another seven years to determine what we’re doing with the buildings. This is the beginning. There will be a conclusion.”Resident Paula Pierce said the town’s recent history in dealing with properties prompted her to come to the forum.”I’ve lived here for 10 years and watched buildings sit around for a long time and thought the town needs to make decisions, and I wanted to help move it forward,” Pierce said. But she said she found her group’s discussion about the Machon School “helpful, but frustrating.””I’m worried I may still see it sitting around,” Pierce said.