By Katie Wagner / Staff Writer
PRINCETON — The Township Committee will likely adopt a resolution next week that indicates its interest in building new indoor municipal recreation facilities on the Valley Road site owned by the Princeton Regional School District, according to Township Administrator Jim Pascale.
The Valley Road site contains a multi-building complex, athletic fields and parking for school district buses. The complex, parts of which date back to the early 1900s, houses the school district’s administrative offices, Corner House counseling center, Princeton Community Television and the township’s affordable housing office, among other groups.
The resolution states that if the Princeton Regional School District proceeds with the demolition of its 1908 and 1927 Valley Road buildings, each municipality would request the reservation of space on the site for new active recreational facilities with accompanying office and meeting space for recreation and other community organizations and new offices for Corner House.
Various parties have expressed interest in the future of the site, including Borough Council, Township Committee and the township’s Historic Preservation Commission, which decided in July to send a letter to the school board expressing its concerns about the fate of the Valley Road building and requesting to be included in deliberations on the building’s future.
That letter has since been completed and was likely to have been sent to the school board by the end of this week, commission secretary Annie Criscitiello said on Wednesday.
Mr. Pascale said Wednesday that the Borough Council is also likely to adopt the resolution at its Tuesday meeting, but Princeton Borough Mayor Mildred Trotman said Thursday that she is unsure if the resolution will make it to the Tuesday meeting’s agenda.
"The Princeton Regional School Board has indicated that the old portion of the complex that faces Witherspoon Street is in disrepair and as the owner it is their desire to demolish the building," Mr. Pascale said. "The township and the borough feel that the land is extremely valuable to the community and has approached the school district to see if they would allow us to build new municipal facilities on that site and we’ve talked about Corner House with them as well."
Mr. Pascale said the school board has indicated that it would make space available for Corner House, the non-profit counseling agency for adolescents, young adults and their families.
He added that the school board has indicated it would "look favorably on" an indoor municipal recreation facility being brought to the site and asked the Township Committee and Borough Council to pass resolutions regarding their desires to see that new use brought to the site.
Mayor Trotman said that the aspect of the resolution calling for new active recreation facilities to be added to the Valley Road site has not been discussed by Borough Council members and that she only received a copy of the resolution on Wednesday.
Alan Hegedus, president of the Princeton Regional School Board, said the school board has not asked Borough Council and Township Committee to pass a resolution indicating their support for any specific future uses of the Valley Road site.
"All that has happened is we have invited the township and borough to think about what might be done (on the site) in the best interest of the community," Mr. Hegedus said. "They (Borough Council and Township Committee) haven’t sorted out their own priorities… Jack Roberts, Borough Council and Township Committee have not indicated that we will have a community recreation center on the site."
The school board, however, has set a few priorities for the site, Mr. Hegedus said. It’s decided to reserve the site’s athletic fields and portion of the complex facing Valley Road — where school district offices are currently located — for school district uses. Upgrading, but not demolishing the Valley Road side of the complex is being considered by the school board.
In December, the school board adopted a resolution encouraging both Borough Council and Township Committee to recommend options for the property’s redevelopment, which, according to the resolution, is intended to reduce the district’s "liabilities and operating costs" while meeting a number of community needs.

