Princeton U. Says Will Demolish 91 Prospect If Plan Not Approved

PRINCETON, NJ — The Princeton Planning Board met for around four hours last Thursday to discuss Princeton University’s plan for Prospect Avenue. The hearing was then moved to July 8, with the University saying if the plan is not approved it would have to demolish the structure on 91 Prospect Avenue.

Princeton University plans to move the Court Clubhouse, a former eating club currently on 91 Prospect Avenue, to the site of the three nineteenth-century homes. The Court Clubhouse land will then be used as part of the Environmental Science (ES) and School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS). But residents have been opposing this plan.

At the hearing, Christopher DeGrezia, a lawyer representing the University said that the institution would like to save the Court Clubhouse and has determined that the only viable option is to move it across the street.

“If the application is approved 91 Prospect will have a new home, if it's not approved 91 Prospect will be demolished — which will be unfortunate because the University has gone through great lengths to try to save it,” DeGrezia said.

The Court Clubhouse is currently listed on the National and New Jersey Register of Historic Places.

Read More Here: Princeton U. Prospect Ave Plan Not Endorsed At Special Meeting

Ronald McCoy, University architect said the purpose of their application was to save the building at 91 Prospect. During the University’s “planning level assessment” of the needs of ES+SEAS, the plan showed the University would need the entire site of 91 Prospect due to “programmatic requirements.” McCoy said.

McCoy said the university could either demolish 91 Prospect Avenue or save the building by moving it across the street.

“We obviously realized that moving it across the street would result in the demolition of existing buildings at 110, 114, and 116. But in our evaluation and evaluation of our consultants we believe saving 91 prospect was a higher priority,” he said.

The Victorian homes at 110, 114, and 116 are of historic importance to residents as "many luminaries" lived in the three 19th century homes the University plans to raze.

The Planning Board report earlier stated that 91 Prospect can be updated and “used for the theorists,” but McCoy dismissed this as “not true.”

“The Planning Board doesn’t have any information related to the detailed program requirements of the facility. And the staff has no basis on which to make the statement,” McCoy said. He said the existing building was “40 percent too small” to fit the program requirements.

In May, residents circulated a petition urging the university to reconsider its proposal to demolish three Victorian houses as part of its East Campus development plan.

They feared that the university's proposal "continues the trend of the University encroaching into residential neighborhoods” and would begin to take over the historic eating clubs.

“The record shows that this is a once-in-every-275-years campus development,” McCoy said. “Our history on Prospect Avenue is primarily one of stewardship and that’s the history we intend to continue.”

Earlier, the University defended its plan for Prospect Avenue by saying the structures it plans to raze are not in a "historic district."

Read More Here: Princeton U. Defends Prospect Avenue Plan As Resistance Mounts

The Princeton Prospect Foundation put together a 19-page presentation on the University's proposal and has argued against moving Court Clubhouse across the street.

Sandy Harrison of Princeton Prospect Foundation said that while the University’s plan was “impressive” and “exciting” it has not provided any “compelling reason for this plan which would harm the public interest.”

The Planning Board is now scheduled to continue the discussion on July 8. For more details on the public meeting, click here. You can watch the June 17 meeting here.

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