Town Planner Invites Residents to Speak Up About Vacant Buildings

The following was submitted by Swampscott Town Planner S. Peter Kane.

Building uses come and go depending on community and business needs. Due to such changes, Swampscott currently owns four buildings that are now vacant. These vacancies however are not bad news. Instead, they should be viewed as blank canvases - four locations in town that could become something new and fill opportunities that have been unmet.

What can become of these buildings? Should they be saved, remodeled, and adapted for a new purpose? Would the Town benefit from owning, leasing or selling the properties? How will a new use impact and benefit the direct neighborhood as well as the town as a whole.

These are just some of the questions that Swampscott residents will be asked to consider Wednesday, Jan. 28. A town-wide forum will be held in the Swampscott High School cafeteria, starting at 7 p.m. The forum will consider four town buildings: Machon Elementary School, Greenwood Avenue School, Burrill Street Senior Center, and Burrill Street Police Station.

The town is building off the successful brainstorming process that has worked in recent Planning Board initiatives. Through focused, small groups, participants will discuss with other residents ideas they have and will work through the benefits and challenges with those concepts. Each group will work on putting together a number of uses they feel are the most viable for their building assignment. Rather than simply answering a survey, people will work together to evaluate and actively participate in the concepting.

Next steps will be determined based on the outcome of the brainstorming forum. The primary purpose of the session is to gain community consensus on ideas which can then be further researched for feasibility.

Participants will be taking an important first step in directing the future these buildings.