State dedication of preserved land

Ceremony dedicates Princeton Nurseries site at preserved open space.

By: Elaine Worden
   After five years of planning, the 185.4-acre Princeton Nurseries site was dedicated to South Brunswick and Plainsboro on Wednesday as preserved open space.
   Of that land, South Brunswick received 161 acres located within the Princeton Nurseries Historic District, bordering Kingston and the Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park. The remaining 24.4 were dedicated to Plainsboro.
   The land will be used as a center for educational, horticultural and historic preservation, according to a press release from the state Department of Environmental Protection.
   The land was preserved through a joint effort of South Brunswick, the DEP and Princeton University, which donated 127 acres of the land. The property includes the Princeton Nurseries headquarters, which opened in 1911.
   Princeton’s donation was part of a developer’s agreement signed by South Brunswick and Princeton Forrestal in 2003, in which the township rezoned 78 acres of residential land along Route 1 to be used for corporate development in exchange for the open space acreage. The 78-acre parcel is adjacent to a 72-acre tract zoned for office research.
   DEP Commissioner Bradley Campbell marked the dedication of the land to the respective townships during a ceremony held at the Princeton Nurseries site on Mapleton Road in Kingston.
   Representatives from the DEP, the Delaware and Raritan Canal Commission and Princeton University, state Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein, South Brunswick Mayor Frank Gambatese and Plainsboro Mayor Peter Cantu were just a few of the people on hand to commemorate the open space.
   Robert Durkee, vice president and secretary of Princeton University, thanked everyone for their help in the acquisition and presented several framed pictures of an aerial view of the tract to a few of the participants, including Mayor Gambatese.
   "It was really an effort of cooperation," Mayor Gambatese said to the crowd.
   Mayor Cantu told the crowd that open space preservation has been an ongoing goal not only for Plainsboro, but the state.
   "We recognize that the preservation of open space doesn’t stop at our borders," he said.
   Ms. Greenstein thanked both mayors for doing a spectacular job, and said the acquisition was the product of good policy and leadership.
   "This truly is an exciting project for the community," said Ms. Greenstein.
   The land, which will remain a passive park, will be used for things such as conservation classes, greenhouses and include walking and jogging trails. The township has already received $300,000 from Princeton University to maintain and improve the land, said Mayor Gambatese.