By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
Princeton University on Monday unveiled a possible location for its next student dormitory on campus as well as roughly where a new pedestrian and light vehicle bridge would cross Lake Carnegie connecting Princeton with West Windsor as part of Nassau Hall’s expansion into the nearby community., Based on the work of the university’s planners, the new residential college “potentially” could go in the vicinity of the softball field and the tennis courts, thus requiring those sports to move. University Vice President and Secretary Robert K. Durkee said the new athletic facilities for those sports “most likely” would be part of the university’s larger plans for West Windsor., The university envisions “multiple uses” for the land that it owns in the nearby town, Durkee continued. Overall, Nassau Hall has more than 400 acres in West Windsor, with the bulk of it, some 380 acres, on the southbound side of Route 1., The university said in news release Monday that “academic classrooms” and undergraduate dorms still would remain on the Princeton side of Lake Carnegie. But for the property in West Windsor, “It is expected that the lands will support a variety of activities related to the university’s academic programs, innovation initiatives and administrative needs, along with athletic and recreational uses, housing of various kinds (including housing for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers) and parking.”, The bridge would go over the lake as well as the Delaware and Raritan Canal, someplace between Washington Road and Harrison Street, although there is not yet a precise spot for the crossing, the university said., The proposals are part of the long-range planning the university is doing to map out the growth of its campus. That “framework” document is expected to be done in the fall., But anytime the university increases its presence in the community, there is room for controversy. When the university last embarked on campus growth, it involved moving the Dinky shuttle train farther away from the center of Princeton – a sore spot for many still., To get feedback, the university plans to present what it released this week to municipal officials in West Windsor and Princeton., West Windsor Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh could not be reached for comment Monday. The incumbent mayor is leaving office at the end of 2017 after 16 years in office, with a university employee, Yan Mei Wang, running to replace him., Princeton officials said this week they are looking to schedule a meeting with the university, sometime in May., As for the residential college, the university is planning to phase in the expansion of its undergraduate body by a total of 500 students., The school said that should it need to expand again, there is land near Butler, Wilson and Whitman colleges that could accommodate another residential college., In addition, the university is looking to provide additional space for engineering and environmental studies, “along the north side of Ivy Lane and Western Way” in Princeton, the university said. The land area is mostly used for parking, although it does include faculty and staff apartments, the school said.
