Opinion: Don't Throw Away Historic Valley Road School

Historic Valley Road School, the portion along Witherspoon Street, now faces a very uncertain future.  Originating from a gift to the  inhabitants of Princeton Township, it needs significant repair.  Currently it contains two tenants: Corner House and Princeton Community TV, both of which are slated to move to old Borough Hall around the end of May.  Princeton Community TV has done a yeomen's job of mopping up roof leaks and maintaining life in the building.  In fact, if the choice was theirs they would prefer to remain.

In its six-page resolution on the reuse of Valley road School (VRS), the School Board listed six areas where it felt hat the Valley Road School Community Center proposal fell short.  the first was representative of the tone of the entire resolution: "VRS-ARC, by its Proposal, demands that the Board bear responsibility for undertaking any and all zoning laws changes necessary to allow the Proposal to proceed." All completely untrue.  Still, based on conciliatory remarks from members of the School Baord before and after passage of the resolution, we concluded that the School Board was tacitly telling us to move forward with getting our proposed zoning amendment adopted.

This proposed zoning amendment was prepared for the School Board's review in 2011.  If it were to be passed it would allow the building to be adaptively reused as a center for nonprofit organizations serving Princeton.   The proposed amendment also contains parking requirements that we think we can meet of 1 parking space for each 400 S.F. of useable space, assuming that we can count street parking.  So last week we took the first steps toward formally proposing our zoning amendment for passage-only to receive a vehement objection from guess who? the School Board.

The School Board says that it is looking for a solution.  And they say that they are concerned that they might need additional classroom space some day in the future, which, in fact, could be accommodated in the proposed new center.  Their CURRENT plan, however, is to lock up the building, and with every rainstorm, let deterioration continue - something that would be completely unacceptable from a private owner.  Remarkably, in an $84 million budget, the School Board can't find even a few thousand, or even a few hundred dollars, to patch a roof leak in a building for which they are the stewards.

The School Board says that they are worried about liabilities.  They don't seem to see the liabilities inherent in locking up the building and letting nature take its course.  Even with a fence around it, which incidentally could well cost more than patching the roof, historic VRS will become an eye sore and hazard - with pools of water, mold and rodents, and potentially a magnet for curious kids and thieves.  No doubt a deteriorating building also would have a negative impact on property values in the immediate area.

We still hope that the School Board will do the right thing and show its overall concern for the town's well-being by allowing a citizen group to try to save the building.  What does the School Board have to lose?

Of course, if the School Board sold the building to a nonprofit organization wanting to adaptively reuse the building, then they wouldn't have any liabilities from it all!