PRINCETON ABBEY: That is the new name for the former St. Joseph’s Seminary on Mapleton Road. A new plan to create a cemetery and cremation niches for people of all faiths is well underway. The chapel on the campus dates from 1934.

When Bernard “Buzzy” Stoecklein got his first look at St. Joseph’s Seminary on Mapleton Road, he was amazed. The sprawling, 87-acre property, which was purchased by the Vincentian order in 1914 to train young men for the priesthood, was lushly landscaped. Its Gothic stone chapel had beautiful stained glass windows reminiscent of Sainte Chapelle in Paris and Chartres Cathedral. But the property was not being used to anywhere near it’s potential.

Mr. Stoecklein, who heads a company that manages cemeteries in New Jersey and New York, came to Plainsboro to help decide what to do with a small cemetery on the property that is the final resting place of hundreds of Vincentian priests and brothers.

“I was in awe,” he said last week. “It was one thing to see the grounds and the size of the buildings. But when I went into the abbey, I immediately was reminded of Westminster Abbey. I just couldn’t get over it.”

That was seven years ago, when the campus was clearly in transition. Having served as a high school, a college, and a cemetery on the grounds over the past century, it was briefly and recently home to the American Boychoir School and the Wilberforce School. Current occupants are the French-American School and the Laurel School. The site was under-utilized and expensive to maintain.

A development company was engaged to help decide what to do. “They had a lot of things on the table, from schools to tearing down buildings,” Mr. Stoecklein said. “But they had one serious concern: Who’s going to care for that little priest cemetery?”

Enter Mr. Stoecklein’s company, CMS Mid-Atlantic. A new plan was approved to make the property a cemetery and final resting place open to the general public. Princeton Abbey and Cemetery, as it is now called, will have space for more than 25,000 spots — cremation niches, graves, crypts, and a garden offered free for veterans whose ashes are unclaimed in funeral homes. There will be traditional graves, and space for ashes in the walls and floor of the chapel. Crypts will be above ground and underground. The whole operation will continue under Vincentian ownership, controlled by a new nonprofit organization formed by the Vincentians and Mr. Stoecklein.

There are also plans for receptions, performances, concerts, memorial services, and other special events outside on the grounds and inside the chapel. “We want musical groups to come in and practice there. The acoustics in the chapel are unbelievable,” Mr. Stoecklein said. “We had some musicians there this past weekend and they said there is nothing like it in Princeton. It seats about 350 people — no microphone needed.”

The chapel’s stained glass windows were designed by Nicola D’Ascenzo, famous for his work in Princeton University’s chapel, multiple windows in the Washington National Cathedral, windows in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, and Riverside Church in New York City. Among his most iconic works is the “Nipper” window in one of the old RCA-Victor buildings in Camden, now refurbished as a luxury apartment building.

The goal is to have the Abbey open daily, and staffed. Currently, it is open by appointment. The Abbey is now a “designated, certificated cemetery,” Mr. Stoecklein said. Seventy-five of the acres on the site are now leased to the schools, while 12 are for the cemetery.

Mr. Stoecklein sees the opportunities for different types of cremation niches as a major draw. The practice is rising in New York and New Jersey. “It was three percent when I started 50 years ago,” he said. “Today, in New Jersey, it’s 38 percent. It is the oldest method of disposition in the world. And it’s growing. Our company has always embraced the idea.”

Some 450 people visited the campus at an open house held the weekend of June 25. Princeton Pro Musica was among the performers. Some of the glass-fronted niches in the Abbey’s inner chamber have been constructed, and more are on the way. The building has been cleaned and refurbised. Wi-fi is coming.

“We think this is going to serve a wider area than just Princeton and Plainsboro,” Mr. Stoecklein said. “People travel long distances to a well-managed cemetery, where they might choose a funeral home around the corner.”