Possible contaminates found
By Maria Prato-Gaines, Staff Writer
CRANBURY — Classes remain in session but renovations on Princeton Ballet School at 29 N. Main St. have stopped after township officials requested the site be tested for contaminates.
Work on rerouting the school’s water-runoff system, which will provide the site with larger gutters to carry water to the property’s rear gravel parking lot, began on Tuesday and stopped on Thursday, said Marvin Preston, executive director of the American Repertory Ballet, a parent organization of the Princeton Ballet School.
Part of the project included installing a tank underneath the parking lot, which required workers to dig a hole.
“If you look at the hole, it looks like there’s a layer down several feet that has heating oil,” Mr. Preston said. “Right now, we’re all just speculating. We will find out only when the test results come back.”
On Thursday, Mr. Preston said soil samples had been taken approximately 36 hours earlier and that his company is expecting the results back in the next week or two.
The business is using the services of an environmental consultant and has registered with the state’s Department of Environmental Protection, which would exercise oversight of cleanup efforts if there is a contamination problem.
Mr. Preston said he would not guess the outcome of the tests although anything is possible as decades ago, the site served as a gas station.
He said the business is following proper protocols as specified by the township engineer.
Initially, the company had received permission from the Township Engineer Cathleen Marcelli and the Historical Preservation Commission to begin the work, but that changed when township officials looked at the area.
“A couple people expressed concerns that there are contaminates,” Mr. Preston said. “If there is a contamination of some sort there, then we will clean it up.”
Although, the ballet school’s parking lot, which abuts the municipal parking lot, is closed for the time being, patrons can still use the back walkway leading to the door.
Depending on the outcome of the tests, Mr. Preston said it could be days or even months before the renovation is complete and it’s business as usual.

