Princeton officials are moving closer to making a formal presentation to the Princeton Board of Education to use a portion of the former Valley Road School site for a fire house expansion,
By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
Princeton officials are moving closer to making a formal presentation to the Princeton Board of Education to use a portion of the former Valley Road School site for a fire house expansion, a councilman said this week.
Councilman Lance Liverman said Wednesday that he would not get into any of the details, only that he was hoping to contact Superintendent of Schools Judith A. Wilson to run some ideas by her.
”I would hope to see a presentation by fall,” said Ms. Wilson.
The town is interested in using the site — the part of the school fronting Witherspoon Street — to expand the fire house located next door. Mr. Liverman, leading a council task force that has been looking at the issue, made clear the town does “not want the building” but rather the land.
The school district has held up deciding the future of the building, as only the part of the structure facing Witherspoon is available. The rear of the old school, built in 1918, is used as offices of school district administration. Until recently, the building also was the home of Corner House and Princeton Community Television, both of which have relocated to former Borough Hall.
The town’s interest, however, runs at cross-purposes with an effort by some, including former Mayor Richard Woodbridge, to save the building and turn it into a community center. They have been collecting signatures to have the council put a non-binding referendum on the ballot this year.
Local activist Kip Cherry, an alumna of the school and president of the Valley Road Community Center Inc., said so far around 1,800 signatures have been collected.
”We’re not going to stop there,” she said in a phone interview Thursday.
The group needs 2,033 signatures to have the question on the ballot.
She said she was due to meet with Mayor Liz Lempert Thursday morning, and said she plans to go before the Princeton Council on Monday.
Mayor Lempert, however, said Thursday that state law prohibits the town from putting a question on the ballot dealing with the school district.
Earlier this year, the school board rejected a proposal by Ms. Cherry and others for the building. In figuring out what to do with the site, the district has maintained it wants to do what’s best for the community.
In May, Preservation New Jersey listed the school on its top 10 most endangered sites in the state. The school was the first elementary school in Princeton to be racially integrated.