By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
Renovating and expanding Mary Moss Playground on John Street turned controversial amid concerns the project should leave more room for affordable housing and also removes a wading pool that has been there for more than half a century.
The town plans to fix up the park, or playground, named after a now deceased local woman remembered as a mother figure who worked at a nursery school in town. The project, among other things, aims to replace a pool installed in 1946 with a “sprayground,” a type of sprinkler-based play area for children.
The Princeton Council voted Monday to approve a concept plan for renovating the playground — a plan that needs more refining before bid documents are prepared this year. Based on the town’s timeline, construction is due to start next spring. But it has generated mixed feelings.
For some, the pool is a symbolic link to Princeton’s past when it was the only place in town for black children to swim. Local historian and long-time Princeton resident Shirley Satterfield this week recalled swimming in the pool as a child.
“It was the only pool we had,” said Ms. Satterfield, who is black.
Now with newer families moving in and the composition of the Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood changing, Ms. Satterfield said the town is finally paying attention to a playground that it had neglected for decades.
“It’s not that I oppose it, I welcome it,” said Ms. Satterfield by phone on Tuesday. “I understand how the younger families (now living in the neighborhood) feel because they did not experience growing up in a segregated town like I did.”
Yet she raised questions with why the neighborhood was not invited to be a part of the planning of the renovation a few years ago or even to be aware that such plans were underway.
Today, there are concerns that removing the pool will eliminate a place for black and Latino children to learn how to swim — two groups with high rates of drowning. Bernadine Hines of John Street said a run-through sprinkler system “does not promote constructive swim skills or safety lessons.”
Last year, the town acquired property on the adjacent Lytle Street from developer Roman Barsky to have one lot developed for affordable housing and a second lot to expand the playground to about quarter of an acre. The acquisition appeared to meet two town goals: provide more housing and fix up the park.
“What you’re going to see incorporates a great deal of input and feedback from a lot of people,” Ben Stentz, executive director of the recreation department, told council Monday in his presentation on the renovation.
The town has been eyeing renovating the park with a $767,660 grant that the then two Princetons originally obtained from Mercer County to install an artificial turf field, an idea that was scrapped. The two towns had to put up $383,830, so there is about $1.1 million in total.
But at the council meeting Monday, residents — mostly from outside the neighborhood — want to shrink the proposed playground expansion to create an additional unit of affordable housing. Resident John Heilner was among those calling for using some of the land intended for Mary Moss.
Officials, though, said that since a Mercer County open space grant was used to buy the lot for expanding Mary Moss, the town cannot turn around and flip how it intends to use the property. The acquisition of the other lot was funded through the municipal affordable housing trust fund.
“Based on these decisions that were made last year, there are a number of constraints that we have on those properties based on the funding source and the decision that you made,” municipal administrator Marc D. Dashield told council members.
Mercer County Freeholder Andrew Koontz, a Princeton resident who sits on the municipal recreation commission, told officials at the meeting that he did not want to see the town “repurposing” the money for something it was not intended for.
For his part, Mr. Stentz said the added land would allow for a bigger playground area and other features. “Even with the additional square footage, this is still a very small piece of property,” he said.
Council voted 6-0 to approve the concept plan for Mary Moss, one that officials embraced.
“You know, I don’t know why sometimes people kind of like to settle. And when I say settle, it’s not wanting to have something this great in the community,” Council President Lance Liverman said during the meeting. “You know, if this was any other neighborhood, they would grab at a park like this.”
“I’m delighted that after two and a half years of work on this project, it received the resounding support of council,” Councilwoman Jo S. Butler, the liaison to the recreation commission, said by phone Tuesday.
As for Ms. Moss, the town intends to keep her name on the playground. Ms. Satterfield said she plans to work on creating a sign or plaque that would go at the playground to honor the park’s namesake.
