Multiple town committees and a nonprofit organization sent a letter to Select Board Chair Katie Phelan and Town Administrator Nick Connors urging “that any long-term plan for the town-owned Hawthorne restaurant property – the highly visible ‘gateway’ to Swampscott – be primarily open park land without any sizable structures.”

The Open Space and Recreation Plan Committee, Climate Action and Resilience Committee, Conservation Commission, Tree Committee, and the Swampscott Conservancy chairs penned a 14 page letter to Phelan and Connors, copying in the rest of the Select Board as well. The letter comes as the town finalizes a contract for a short-term lease for the former Hawthorne-by-the-Sea restaurant property. 

Phelan and Connors did not respond to the Swampscott Tides’ request for comment. 

“We believe that developing the Hawthorne property be developed (sic) as primarily open space is in line with the position of a large number of the town’s residents who have consistently indicated a preference that the property be mainly developed as a public park and plaza,” the letter reads.

The Request for Proposal (RFP) for a lessee for the former  Hawthorne-by-the-Sea restaurant property was originally posted to the town’s website in December, following a Town Meeting vote, which approved the Select Board’s plan to lease the property while broader redevelopment discussions continue. The Athanas family announced the restaurant’s closure in November. The short-term lease is intended to prevent the building from sitting vacant as long-range plans take shape.

Town Meeting approved an RFP allowing for a lease of up to 30 months from the vote, or until June 2028. At the town-wide meeting, Connors said the additional time will help offset costs for utilities, insurance, and debt, adding that no town capital would be spent.

The short-term lease will run alongside ongoing redevelopment planning. The Advisory Committee finalized its recommendation for a mixed-use and half-parkland concept. The plan envisions two rows of buildings totaling about 25,000 square feet if built at two stories, positioned perpendicular to the road with a 40-foot opening to preserve views into the courtyard and open space. The model includes roughly 28 parking spaces.

In June 2022, a Special Town Meeting overwhelmingly approved the purchase of several properties, including the Hawthorne parcel and the Archer Street project. The article authorized the Select Board to acquire 149–169 Humphrey Street by gift, purchase, or eminent domain for municipal use, passing 214–3.

The Select Board formed the Hawthorne Re-Use Advisory Committee in February 2025. Public feedback at recent meetings has shown support both for park-forward concepts and for larger buildings that could generate revenue. 

The group that wrote the letter to Phelan and Connors lists reasons such as how “an artist’s renders of a park-like vision of the property” had “led many to vote in favor of buying the land at Town Meeting” as well as “strong support” from town-wide surveys and public forums. 

The concept featured 20 parking spaces, walking trails, a park café or restaurant, pergolas, open lawn space, and a scenic beach overlook.

“In addition, information presented at a visioning workshop for Swampscott 2035: The Master Plan noted that Swampscott has the lowest percentage of green/open space compared to neighboring communities,” the letter reads. “It is no surprise that there is strong support for open space at the Hawthorne property given Swampscott’s waterfront is something that makes the town different from many other communities…Unfortunately, over the years access to the coast in Swampscott – and open space in general – has decreased significantly, giving way to private development.”

In January of 2023, there was a half-day community brainstorming session. Community space was seen as the most important priority. The strongest support was for “park/open space/green space,” with multi-use space coming in second. When it came to “iconic” concepts, open space ideas overwhelmingly led the way.

The Hawthorne Re-Use Advisory Committee hosted two community meetings where residents emphasized creating “a place to go,” prioritizing pedestrians over cars, and addressing the short lifespan of businesses on Humphrey Street. Other suggestions included community spaces for food courts, cafés, artisans, and events.

The group acknowledged that parkland already exists near the former restaurant property at the Town Hall Lawn and Linscott Park, but they reiterate that “these areas are not waterfront properties and do not contain the state-of-the-art amenities that a new park at the Hawthorne property could contain.” 

They argued that the open space will enhance wellness, invigorate the downtown area and attract new visitors. 

To ensure coastline access, the group is advocating for the restaurant’s removal. However, they are “not opposed to limited structures on the property.” The letter even provided an artificial intelligence rendering of the property with two-story buildings.

“We strongly oppose selling a portion of the property to a private developer for retail or residential development — especially for the purpose of creating private residential units,” the letter reads. “One of the rationales for the town to buy the property was to avoid the further condoizing of Humphrey Street and to ensure public, not private use of the property.”

The letter argues that Swampscott has “consistently given up town-owned property, often purchased at great expense and sold at a loss, to developers, or failed to exercise the option to buy property for public use.” Examples given include the former Temple Israel property, the White Court property, the former high school on Greenwood Avenue, as well as 1 Salem St. property adjacent to the middle school and Todesco Golf Course “despite the vote at Town Meeting urging the town to do so, and for the reasonable price of $600,000.”

The group does, however, support the town acquiring the adjacent church parking lot, at 187 Humphrey St. The Select Board has recently held executive sessions to discuss the potential acquisition, lease, or valuation of parcels at 153 and 187 Humphrey St.

Bakertilly Advisory Group, the consultant hired by the town to review the potential purchase of the property, said in its 2024 redevelopment analysis report that the “larger assembled parcel would represent a key anchor on the western end of the Humphrey Street Corridor and reverse a persistent trend in the town of the privatization of key waterfront parcels for residential use and ensure long-term public access to the waterfront in this key district.”

They also suggest that it “is not true” that a park would have limited seasonal use to only warm weather. 

“Aside from the fact that people frequent parks during all seasons, there can be a wide range of cold weather activities at the park, such as Lynnfield Market Street’s outdoor skating rink, the Salem’s Frozen Fire festival it has held in the past and its So Sweet Chocolate and Ice Sculpture festival this year.”

The group lastly noted that the 1970 town document “Swampscott Environment: Now or Never” “recommended specific proposals to expand and protect the town’s open space.” When the report was written, about 70% of Swampscott was developed, with less than 600 acres remaining as open space. Today about 19 acres of town remains undeveloped, the letter suggests. 

“How unfortunate it would be if in the future, residents look back with regret at the decisions that Town representatives made — or failed to make — regarding this once in a generation opportunity for waterfront open space,” the letter read.