By Katie Wagner, Staff Writer
Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D-Princeton), who previously stated his opposition to the Institute for Advanced Study’s construction plans for land adjacent to Princeton Battlefield State Park, has announced his support of archaeologists’ call for a new study on the site’s historical significance.
The Institute plans to build 15 faculty homes on eight-acres of land near the Princeton Battlefield, which has been labeled as a threatened National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service since 2004.
”After reading numerous reports from archaeologists across the country, it has become evident that building on land surrounding Princeton Battlefield Park would be historically detrimental,” Mr. Gusciora said, in a statement issued last week. “The Battlefield is one of the Nation’s most coveted historical landmarks and any construction in that area should be extensively studied as to prevent any irreversible damage.”
The archaeologists who are recommending the study have agreed the property was a significant part of the battlefield, due to types of artifacts previously discovered, according to the press release.
The archeologists, David Starbuck, David Orr, Richard Veit, Wade Catts and Joseph F. Balicki, “noted more research should be conducted before any construction is considered, due to possible additional artifacts” and one archaeologist further suggested that the land in question may hold the potential for recovered human remains, according to the release.
”Once construction begins on the land around Princeton Battlefield Park there is no turning back,” Mr. Gusciora said, in the press release. “We need to make sure that we take all the precautions necessary in preventing the destruction of this historic piece of land.”
The Princeton Battlefield Society, a nonprofit group dedicated to the preservation of the site, has been actively opposing the Institute’s plan since last year and has claimed that archaeological findings at the proposed housing site indicate it was a significant part of the 1777 Battle of Princeton.
Institute representatives have said the findings, which are detailed in a report commissioned by the Institute, are not evidence of significant activity on the proposed building site.
