SWAMPSCOTT — Town officials, along with design firm HDR Inc., will be holding a “Hawthorne Idea Exchange” on Jan. 28 for the community to give their thoughts on what they would like to see the Hawthorne by the Sea property on Humphrey Street used for in the future.
Town Meeting approved the acquisition of the land in June 2022.
“All that is required are your ideas, imagination, enthusiasm, and willingness to listen to your friends and neighbors,” the event announcement on the town website said.
The event will start at 10 a.m. at Hawthorne by the Sea and will go until 1 p.m.
“It’s interactive, where people are going to be able to talk with one another and within the breakout sessions,” Assistant Town Administrator Peter Kane said. “There will be facilitators that will help to encourage and help them go through their dialogue and elicit ideas and as a group or as multiple groups, kind of talk through those ideas that then can be shared at the end.”
Now that the property is under town ownership, officials want “community input,” he said.
“As part of the Town Meeting vote, the intention is to ensure that we have public access to that waterfront and so what does that look like for the community? And that’s what we’re going to ask them, how do they want to use it? What ideas, what have they seen the area or the region that they like, basically giving us some feedback as to wants and preferences for the redevelopment of the property,” Kane said.
The timeline of the project will be determined once an idea for the space has been decided, he said.
“The final use and purpose of this property will need to be approved by a future vote of Town Meeting,” the event announcement said.
