By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
The Princeton Council will explore possibly expanding the Witherspoon Street fire station and whether that renovation ought to include using part of the old Valley Road School located next door.
Council President Bernard P. Miller and council members Jo S. Butler and Lance Liverman were named Monday to a three-member task force that will spend the next few months examining all the issues and potential costs involved and then report back to the full governing body by April 8.
This comes with the Princeton Board of Education interested in deciding what to do with the school property, a decision that the board delayed until after consolidation.
School Board President Timothy Quinn said Wednesday that the district only is making the original part of the building and two additions from 1927 available. Adjacent playing fields and a section of the school where the district administration offices are located will continue to be used by the district, he said.
Princeton officials have eyed the school before.
Last year, the borough and the township were interested in acquiring it to construct a new building for the Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad and the substance abuse program Corner House, and to allow for expanding the Witherspoon firehouse. That offer is no longer valid as things have changed.
The Rescue Squad plans to construct a new headquarters on Harrison Street; and Corner House still located in the Valley Road School plans to move into the former Borough Hall sometime in March.
If the school option does not work out, another scenario worth exploring is buying an apartment building on the other side of the firehouse, Mr. Liverman said Tuesday. He added that such a purchase would be contingent on the town getting the right price.
The all-volunteer Princeton Fire Department, made up of three companies, has around 145 members on the rolls, although some are not active members, said Robert Gregory, Princeton’s director of emergency services, on Wednesday. Three firehouses are located in town, but anytime the department responds to a call, firefighters leave out of the Witherspoon firehouse, he said.
Mr. Gregory said the building is cramped. Water leaks when it rains, and an emergency generator broke down a couple of times during Hurricane Sandy, he said.
When he talks with the task force, Mr. Gregory said one of the issues he will raise is whether the Witherspoon building ought to be torn down and a replacement building constructed. So far, officials only have referenced an “expansion” of the firehouse.
As part of its deliberation, the town will have to decide whether to make a formal proposal to the school board for the school site.
In the meantime, the school board will consider the only other offer it received, from a group known as “The Valley Road School the Adaptive Re-use Committee” that is interested in turning the school into a community center. Former Township Mayor Richard Woodbridge, a graduate of the school, is part of that effort.
”I am a little concerned about a small three-person task force to look only at the fire department bay issue because the community needs the whole site looked at holistically,” Mr. Woodbridge said Wednesday in an email. “There are a lot of potential stakeholders, including neighbors, the schools and the numerous nonprofits who have reached out to us for help with finding affordable local space. I would recommend an open meeting including all potential stakeholders meeting in public to discuss all issues rather than in small groups meeting independently.”
The earliest the school board could consider the group’s offer to possibly accept, reject or table it is at the next board meeting Tuesday, Mr. Quinn said.
The other two firehouses, located on Harrison and Chestnut streets are used for meetings and social events by the respective fire companies. Officials have not determined what to do with those buildings in the future, although Mayor Liz Lempert said Wednesday officials would have to address that question.