Train Depot Sale for $50,000 on Town Warrant

Three articles on tonight's Town Meeting warrant apply to the Swampscott Train Depot.

The town wants authority to buy and lease the historical property. Selectmen sponsored all three articles.

Articles 8 and 10 need a two-thirds majority approval from meeting members; article 9 needs a simple majority.

Article 8 would authorize selectmen to buy the depot building, the land beneath it and four parking spaces for $50,000.

Article 9 would authorize the town to lease the building to a third party for up to 50 years.

Article 10 would zone the property, 10 Railroad Ave., B-1. The same article would also zone 100 Pine Street B-1 and would zone Columbia Street B-2. These three locations are as of now unzoned. 

The Finance Committee recommends authorizing the town to buy and lease the property.

The Railroad Avenue station is on the MBTA Commuter Rail's Newburyport/Rockport Line.

The station is more than 130 years old and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The exterior has been renovated but not the interior.

The depot will get some national exposure next summer, though not as the Swampscott station.

It will appear in the Adam Sandler movie Grown Ups 2 as the train station in the movie town of Stanton, Conn.