Princeton University’s campus plan for the next 10 years won’t be released until next summer. But last week University administrators provided a glimpse of the document under development at a meeting of a Princeton Planning Board subcommittee. The presentation will be repeated on Wednesday, October 5 at a municipal meeting in West Windsor. 

The future is focused on accommodating the growth of the school’s engineering and environmental studies departments, making room for 500 more undergraduates, and housing them, along with other students, faculty and staff — either in West Windsor, the recently razed Butler Tract, or on Alexander Street.

“We’re still midpoint in the process,” said Bob Durkee, the University’s vice president and secretary, in a conversation this week. “This is all about being ready.”

Urban Strategies, Inc., in association with 15 planning, engineering, and architecture firms, is developing the University plan. While the focus is on the next 10 years, portions also extend to how the school might look and operate three decades from now. Meetings with students, faculty, municipal officials, and others have been held to help figure out the plan’s direction.

The University’s holdings in West Windsor, on both sides of Route One, are definitely part of the plan. “Over time, which is a key phrase, we do expect to make more use of the West Windsor lands,” Mr. Durkee said. “It could be for academics, for housing, for administration, or other uses.”

Also under consideration is the Springdale Golf Club, which borders Alexander Street and is owned by the University. The club’s lease expires in 2036 but with a provision that allows the University to bring it to a close after 2026. While there is nothing planned for the site as yet, “In the long term, we believe it will be converted to support the educational mission,” Mr. Durkee said.

Sensitivity to the environment is a priority, according to Mr. Durkee. “Much as we’ve been restoring the natural habitat along Washington Road and Elm Drive, we think at some point we really could improve the natural habitat along Springdale Creek,” he said. “And in the future, when it is being used to support the educational mission, we would be very sensitive to desirability of public access. This is a pretty piece of land, and we would expect to design it in a way that people can walk on it and enjoy it. And we would be respectful of any historical significance as well.”

Mr. Durkee said there has been interest in the idea of putting pedestrian bridges across Carnegie Lake to connect with what might be developed in the West Windsor portion. “People seem to like the idea of having walking paths and bike paths, and being able to move back and forth with golf carts,” he said. “That makes the West Windsor lands feel more connected to the campus.” Development in West Windsor could also “recast the lake from something at the edge of the campus to being more in the middle of the campus,” he added. “So if you do it over time, and develop West Windsor in a robust way, you do get a campus where the lake gets a different relationship.”

The expectation for the Butler Tract, which borders Harrison Street and for decades was housing for graduate students and their families, is that it would be used for some type of housing once more. “There is no immediate plan. But it might be a mix of graduate students, faculty, and staff,” Mr. Durkee said. “We’re just trying to identify the areas where there could be that kind of housing over the longer term.” Princeton Council has discussed the idea of rezoning the tract to residential to make sure it is used only in that manner.

Planners are continuing to work on the campus blueprint. “The University has not made any decisions on any of this yet,” Mr. Durkee said. “We’re not at that point yet. Right now, we’re waiting for the planners to come back to us and say, ‘Here are your options.’ We’re trying to anticipate as much as we can.”