Princeton Residents Urge Council To Help Bring Back Skating On Lake Carnegie

PRINCETON, NJ – During the last council meeting, Princeton residents asked the council to help bring back skating on Lake Carnegie. Council members said the town can't promise anything until Princeton University agrees to terms.

Several speakers talked about the lake during the public comment period. They called skating a rare, shared tradition that brings the town and university together. Several asked the council to move quickly so skating can happen this winter if the lake freezes.

Residents said skating on the lake is rare, happening every five to 10 years.

Steve Hiltner said his nature blog has recorded skating on the lake in 2003, 2007, 2009, 2014 and 2015. He said a search of the Papers of Princeton archive found no deaths from skating on Lake Carnegie. He said incidents in 1943 and 1966 happened on the Millstone River and the canal, where current is a factor.

A resident of Cedar Lane said she is "very risk adverse" but was impressed by the township's safety rules during past skating days. She said that when public safety workers asked people to leave the ice between the Harrison and Washington Street bridges, some people went onto other parts of the lake where they couldn't be seen. "From a safety perspective alone, it's imperative that we figure this out," she said.

Another resident pointed to skating at Spring Lake and Max Pond in Manasquan last winter. He said police at Spring Lake brought in lights for night skating.

Councilman Brian McDonald who was named liaison on skating issue said the town is hoping the university will agree to terms under which it would allow skating. Skating would require crossing university land, he said, and there are questions about parking. He said police, fire and first aid squad members also have safety concerns.

The next step is a meeting as soon as possible with everyone involved, McDonald said. "The answer may be yes, it may be no, but we all want to try to get to yes," he said.

Councilwoman Mia Sacks asked whether the town would spend time on the effort if the university says no. She said she wanted residents to understand the limits of what the council can do. "We could all say 'let's go skate,' and it wouldn't mean that we could skate this winter," she said.

Mayor Mark Freda said the town wants to bring the university and emergency services together, though he said no one knows whether a meeting will produce a result. Sacks asked that McDonald keep residents updated, and Freda said he would.

Have a correction or news tip? Email sarah.salvadore@patch.com