Council Votes To Establish Princeton Prospect Ave. Historic District

PRINCETON, NJ — Council on Monday voted unanimously to establish the “Prospect Avenue Historic District," bringing to close months of advocacy from groups.

The Princeton Planning Board unanimously approved the proposed district in January. The Princeton Historic Preservation Commission recommended the district on November 15 last year.

The ordinance creates the historic district between Washington Road and Murray Place, which encompasses the famed Princeton University eating clubs.

The eating clubs were at the center of controversy last year when the University announced it planned to raze three Victorian homes and move the Court Clubhouse on 91 Prospect Avenue to make way for Environmental Science (ES) and School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) building. More: Princeton U. Prospect Ave Plan Not Endorsed At Special Meeting

“Adoption of this ordinance by the council will be a very positive outcome of well over a year of work by so many people to come up with a compromise solution on Prospect Avenue to maintain the quality of the historic character of the street and also to allow the university to do some very important and needed changes, but to do them in a way that respects the historic character,” Historian Clifford Zink said.

Zink thanked Councilwoman Mia Sacks for “engaging with the community” and working with Princeton University to find solutions.

Kip Cherry from the Princeton Prospect Foundation said prospect Avenue represents a major period of change and evolution for the town and the university.

“Prospect Avenue, historic buildings and eating club has a story of change and challenges that the town and the university share both in terms of events in time and in terms of the role of Prospect Avenue as both a public street and as a transition area between the campus and the town,” Cherry said.

The new historic district will lay the foundation for further change innovation with the new ES SEAS building, which will be constructed just outside of the new district, Cherry said.

Resident Louis Hamilton, who lives down the street from Prospect Avenue, said that his family moved to Princeton for its historic character and architectural integrity.

“In the last 12 years or so that we've been here, we have seen lots of buildings being torn down, right around us here in the community and elsewhere. And so, we're grateful for this opportunity to preserve at least a small portion of it, and an important portion of it,” Hamilton said.

The historic district will include 17 current and former eating clubs, two residences, the Ferris Thompson wall and gate. At the request of Princeton University, 91 Prospect Avenue will be outside the proposed historic district. More: Princeton Council Considers Prospect Ave. Historic District Proposal

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