Community Life Center Task Force Mulls Over Potential Sites

The Community Life Center Feasibility Study Task Force met with Abacus Architects’ David Eisen on Tuesday to discuss next steps as the two sides continue working to narrow down potential sites for the proposed community life center.

More than 700 Swampscott residents have completed a survey distributed by the task force in May to gauge interest in the project. The survey asked residents what amenities, features and programming they would like to see a the facility.

Eisen and the task force are using the survey responses to evaluate potential sites around town and determine whether they could feasibly accommodate the type of life center residents envision.

“It sounds like around 30,000 square feet is needed,” Task Force Chair Anneka Kumli said during Tuesday’s meeting.

Sites discussed during the meeting included the Swampscott Middle School and Clarke Elementary School.

Kumli said the next step is to review the survey data and evaluate each potential site based on residents’ priorities and the space requirements. She also suggested creating a ranking of the sites.

On-site parking emerged as one of the most requested features in the survey and has become a key consideration in discussions between the task force and Eisen. The group agreed that the middle school site could accommodate significantly more parking than Clarke Elementary School.

Other popular survey responses included classes and lectures, outdoor walking paths, a café or snack bar, yoga classes and concerts.

“There are reasons any of these possible sites could be eliminated but none of them are necessarily conclusive,” said Eisen. “The question is how much we can make things work despite the challenges.”

The task force is focusing on land already owned by the town. Eisen said that, at this stage, no sites have been ruled out.

“We’re looking forward to going ahead,” said Eisen. “We’re eager to do it.”

Eisen said he will now prepare what he described as an interim report.

“What I can do is package up site plans and site analysis into a report,” said Eisen. “I did write-ups on each site with issues for each. I could package the work up in a way that’s easy to look through with some thoughts at the next meeting.”

The task force is scheduled to meet again in two weeks.

Subscribe to The Swampscott Tides Catch of the Week

Get a round up of the week's top stories, delivered to your inbox every Friday

We don’t spam! Read more in our privacy policy