By Katie Wagner, Staff Writer
The Princeton Township Historic Preservation Commission has asked the Princeton Regional Board of Education to hear the commission’s concerns and ideas before determining a plan for the Valley Road complex that might include demolition of portions of the building.
The request was made in a letter, dated Sept. 17, which specifically asks the board to consider sustainability when planning for the complex’s future.
”Retention of the existing structure, itself, would be far more environmentally friendly than its removal and replacement with a new structure,” the letter states. “It should be remembered that the most energy efficient building is the one that’s already built.
”We urge the board to be open to this broader dialogue before finalizing any decision which might remove the Valley Road building from the town it has served for so many years.”
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.
In June 2006, the school board contracted with KSS Architects to analyze the use, needs and future of the building and its property. The Princeton-based architecture firm provided four general scenarios for the site, including maintaining the entire building, maintaining portions of the building, knocking down the entire building and replacing it with a smaller structure, and demolishing the entire structure and selling three acres of the site for redevelopment.
So far, the school board has decided to reserve the site’s athletic fields and the portion of the complex facing Valley Road — where school district offices are currently located — for school district uses. Upgrading this side of the complex is being considered by the board. The board has not made any final decisions regarding the oldest part of the building, the original public school that dates back to 1908.
”We’re interested, of course, in the part that’s most historic,” said David Shure, chairman of the commission, during a phone interview Monday.
The letter also mentions that “an ad hoc committee of interested Princetonians have initiated informal discussions directed at measures by which the facility might be adapted to fulfill present and future community needs.”
One of the Historic Preservation Commission’s suggestions for determining the future of the Valley Road site is to seek an independent assessment of the complex and the several systems which the KSS report indicated required upgrading or replacement. The commission proposed to do this through presenting the project as something available for collaborative sessions among volunteer architects that would include input from professional [ahu: should this be architects?: ]artisans among alumni of the former Valley Road School, according to the letter.
Kim Gutglueck, of the Princeton Regional Board of Education’s business office, said Monday that the board had recently received a letter from the Princeton Township Historic Preservation Commission but that she did not know the topic of the letter.
Stephanie Kennedy, the school board’s business administrator, and board President Alan Hegedus did not return phone calls.
A resolution indicating Princeton Township’s interest in building new indoor municipal recreation facilities on the Valley Road site was on the agenda for the Princeton Township Committee’s Monday meeting, which was scheduled to begin after the Packet’s deadline.
The draft resolution states that if the Princeton Regional School District proceeded 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.
In December, the school board adopted a resolution encouraging the Township Committee and Borough Council 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.
Members of Borough Council have also expressed interest in the future of the site.

