Princeton University scraps plan to build arts and transit neighborhood on western edge of its campus
Trenton Times
February 2, 2011
Princeton University is abandoning its plan to build an arts and transit neighborhood on the western edge of its campus after local officials declined to voice their support for zoning approvals at a lengthy public meeting Monday night.
University president Shirley Tilghman, who surprised many people by attending the joint borough council and township committee meeting to discuss the university’s proposal for its arts and transit neighborhood, described the meeting as “a watershed moment.”
“It’s a rare occasion when the president of the university appears before the governing body, and it is rare when the issue to be addressed is as important as this one,” Tilghman said, adding that the arts center is one of the university’s highest priorities. “We have an obligation to students who have come to Princeton in part because they believed the university was in the midst of an expansion in the creative and performing arts.”
Tilghman said that as a result of Monday night’s outcome, she would instruct her colleagues to begin planning for another location for the arts center.
