By Allison Musante, Staff Writer
PLAINSBORO Karl Held is just months away from seeing his vision for the Princeton Center for Arts and Education come to fruition.
”July will be our busiest month for sure in terms of fund raising and keeping construction work on track to open this fall,” said Mr. Held, the founding executive director.
His plans for proposed site improvements were blessed by the township Development Review Committee on Tuesday night and have been moved forward to the Planning Board, set for July 18.
The center will house the American Boychoir School, the French American School of Princeton and the Wilberforce School on the seven-building campus of the former St. Joseph’s Seminary at 75 Mapleton Road.
Mr. Held announced his intent in February to unite the schools not only to share funds and resources, but also generate cross-collaboration in the arts among three very different schools.
Mr. Held said several other groups have expressed interested in joining the campus, but declined to name them.
He said a third of the 167,000-square-foot campus is available and could accommodate at least five more permanent tenants with room to rent space to other groups.
Mr. Held, who is also the president of the Boychoir School and a Tony nominated Broadway producer, said he is on track in terms of fund raising. He said he has raised about $4 million of $5 million needed to complete the first phase of the project, which involves making the campus compliant with the American Disabilities Act by installing ramps, elevators, lighting and signage. The second phase, which involves renovating some of the building interiors, will require about $3.6 million.
”This is all mostly private funding,” he said. “We’re planning to approach the big corporations for funding next.”
The Development Review Committee, which is comprised of Deputy Mayor Neil Lewis, Director of Planning and Zoning Lester Varga and other township officials, discussed some of the most recent revisions to the site plans, including landscaping elements, traffic flow adjustments and a storm water retention basin.
The campus will also include recreational spaces, offices, an exhibition gallery, a cafeteria and dormitories. The center will utilize the existing neo-gothic chapel as its main performance space.
