Jim Firestone of Princeton
The Princeton Regional Board of Education is now seriously considering boarding up and knocking down the older portion of Valley Road School. The decision may come soon. They say it is a liability and that it is not worth saving, architecturally.
A group of citizens called, Adaptive Re-use Committee (ARC) of which I am only one member, speaking for myself, disagrees. We see it as important historically to the town. The Historic Preservation Committee agrees.
In good faith ARC is also working on getting grants to restore the building and use it as a community center for non-profits including Corner House, TV 30 and others that often leave town due to high rents.
Unfortunately, so far the demolition issue is not being made public. It is a hot potato. No one wants to be responsible for raising taxes and destroying history. Taking it down could cost more than $700,000 and would raise our taxes. Besides, historically there are thousands who went to the school who might get angry.
So, the school board might be thinking about passing the potato to the Township Committee. Back in December the committee passed an ordinance promising their own Recreation Department and Corner House first dibs on the demolition site if the township gets it for free. But, the catch now is that there is no funding for a new building, and there won’t be for many years to come.
Thus, the public may lose their significant school history forever and get to stare at either a boarded up building or 27 buses parked behind the building, and an ugly amputated quad for perhaps even a decade.
Funding however is available to ARC through EDA grants for non-profits to re-adapt the building, possibly even greening it. ARC could later give the building back to the board of education in twenty years for their use. But, the board wants to make a decision soon and probably doesn’t want to grant enough time for a funding commitment.
There are other factors slowing down the progress of the ARC group:1) no one’s being specific about the liability issue and its cost, and 2) there is no cost estimates of the differed maintenance to put the building back in shape. How can the board make an informed decision?
It seems to me a preemptive decision was made in more euphoric times. But, we can’t wait seven years with an ugly mess while the cost of the new building goes from $15 million to close to $30 million in seven years. Do you really want to knock down our history and commit to some nebulous project in the future that may never get built? It is not good planning or economics. It is time to weigh in on the issue. Phone me at (609) 647-9802 or e-mail me at [email protected]. Make your voice heard so the school board knows how much you care. Let’s have a public forum for a public issue.
Jim Firestone
Princeton
