Broader Scope Sought In 'Revisioning' Swampscott's Hawthorne Property

SWAMPSCOTT, MA — While the second community meeting on "revisioning" the town-purchased Hawthorne by the Sea property on Humphrey Street included the presentation of three enticing renditions for the future of the oceanfront property, Select Board members expressed some concern that the open space-focused plans were too similar and too narrow in scope for this stage of the project.

The presentation, which can be viewed here, included designs for a "King's Cliff Park," "Swampscott Town Square" and "King's Beach Pier and Park," which have community gathering spaces, performance areas, fields, open marketplaces, walkways, and in one rendition, a giant pier.

But Select Board members expressed some concerns that, while there was a stated "preference" for open space when the $7.1 million property purchase was proposed to a special town meeting for approval last year, the renditions did not include any revenue-producing options that they said should at least be considered before a final pathway is determined.

"There was one glaring omission and one constant theme that I heard," Select Board member Peter Spellios said. "People felt like the ideas of the Hawthorne (expressed in January) were out here (with many options) and by the time that they got to the high school (meeting last week), they had been narrowed pretty quickly. And we saw three versions of open space with slight derivations.

"I admit that I am saying this even though I believe it should be predominantly open space. But I don't think that means that we negate that process. I think (the design firm HDR) maybe went a little too quick and gave three options out there that were really derivatives of themselves as opposed to three different ideas."

Select Board member MaryEllen Fletcher said she and others she spoke with came away with a sense that the open space concept had already been determined and that those who supported other uses for the town-owned property lacked an audience.

"I had already spent an entire morning at the first (meeting in January) and then when I went to the second one at the high school none of my ideas were there," Fletcher said. "It was like one big idea of open space. So I really felt like: 'Why I am coming here because no one is listening to me.' I know a lot of people in town feel that way. They feel this idea is already baked.

"I really want to see a balance in there. I am not in support, and I've said this for one year, I am not in support of 100 percent open space. I don't begrudge anybody for being in support of open space. But I want to see a balance in there and I don't want to see a total loss of revenue."

Select Board members said that, even if most or the entirety of the property is ultimately desired to be open space, residents should be presented with all the information on potential commercial alternatives and their potential contributions to the town.

Fitzgerald said more than 100 people attended the last meeting at Swampscott High with one idea including a boardwalk Ferris wheel. Spellios said that grander-scope ideas of that nature should be included in the discussions so all possibilities can be explored before decisions are made on what the property will become.

Fitzgerald said the next steps after the town meeting on May 15 will be to develop some sort of timeline for the property that will allow the town to apply for state and federal funding and begin turning the possibilities into a reality over the next few years.

The longer-term planning comes at the same time that town meeting members will be asked to allow the town two more years of commercial use of the restaurant building to help ensure that it does not become a "vacant building" and be at risk of deterioration.

Fitzgerald told Patch two weeks ago that there have been talks with the Athanas family about extending the restaurant lease there for one or two more years, or potentially leasing the space out to a different restaurant or banquet business if an agreement cannot be reached with the current Hawthorne operators.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)