By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
A visitors center is scheduled to open up later this year inside the Princeton University Store on Nassau Street, the Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce said last week.
Peter Crowley, chamber president and CEO, said the center would be interactive and brochure-driven without onsite staff. He said his organization and the store are in talks about whether the chamber will be charged rent and, if so, how much.
Store president Jim Sykes could not be reached for comment.
Mr. Crowley said the visitors center, due to be located in the front of the store, would open in the fourth quarter. He could not be more specific.
Tourism is big business for Mercer County, accounting for slightly more than $1 billion in expenditures last year, according to a study by the state division of travel and tourism. Mr. Crowley said the Princeton region attracts about 2 million visitors a year.
Aside from the visitors center, the chamber wants to work out a deal with the borough to lease and maintain the kiosks on Nassau Street. The kiosks serve as community bulletin boards, filled with fliers for local events, garage sales and the like. But once the chamber gets control of them, the public will no longer be able to post whatever they please.
”We’ll police it,” Mr. Crowley said.
For his part, Mr. Crowley thinks the kiosks look “horrible” in their current form. Papers are tapped or stapled on top of other messages.
He said his organization plans to upgrade the kiosks by replacing the panels with a mix of interactive and display boards. He said some parts of the kiosks would be for chamber members only, while others won’t be.
Some passersby on Nassau Street, such as Michael Benedetti, on Friday said they supported the change.
”This is too much cacophony,” said Henry Singer of Princeton standing beside the kiosk at Nassau and Witherspoon streets.
Councilwoman Jenny Crumiller said she wants to hear more details. She recalled there was public outcry several years ago about a proposal to take down the kiosks.

