February 12, 2025

Town to Hire Planning Firm for Westminster Campus

By Anne Levin

At its meeting on Monday night, February 10, Princeton Council took another step toward figuring out the future of the former campus of Westminster Choir College.

Council approved a resolution authorizing the hiring of the Newark consulting firm Topology “for professional planning services related to the Westminster Choir College property, including the adaptive reuse of historic buildings on the property,” according to a memo to Council members from Princeton Planning Director Justin Lesko.

The professional service agreement is for work in four phases, the first of which is expected to take place for up to 15 months and not exceed $115,000.

The town announced its intention to acquire the 25-plus-acre site bordered by Walnut Lane, Hamilton Avenue, Franklin Avenue, and Linden Lane from Rider University, for approximately $50 million last year. Rider, which merged with Westminster in 1992, attempted to sell the campus in 2019. When that effort was unsuccessful, Rider relocated the faculty and students from Westminster to its Lawrence Township campus. The Princeton campus has been mostly unoccupied since then.

The process of condemning the property under eminent domain is underway. According to Council President Mia Sacks, the town is working collaboratively with Rider University and Princeton Theological Seminary, both of which had been involved in litigation over the campus, and neither contest the municipality’s legal right to acquire the property.

“This large, geographically significant site, located in the heart of the community, adjacent to Princeton High School and Princeton Middle School, is uniquely positioned to meet various public and community needs that we hope would honor the cultural and historical significance of the property,” Sacks said in a statement she released on Tuesday.

Topology’s plan for the work includes developing “an informed project vision, including four small group stakeholder meetings and a virtual public outreach exercise,” according to Lesko’s memo to Council.

“Acquisition of the property will ensure that the residents of Princeton will be in the driver’s seat to determine the future of this critical property,” Sacks said. “Our town has many pressing educational, recreational, cultural, and municipal facilities needs. The opportunity to acquire this key site for public use was not one that we could, in good conscience, walk away from. We know that current residents and future generations will benefit from our willingness to act boldly to protect the public’s interest.”

Council approved several other resolutions at the meeting, including one to authorize an agreement with Princeton Mobile Food Pantry for temporary use of 237 North Harrison Street, the former headquarters of Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad (PFARS).

One resolution that sparked some extended discussion was about the appointment of Municipal Court Judge John McCarthy for another three-year term. After some back-and-forth focused on the basis on which an appointment can be made, four members of Council voted in favor, one voted against it, and another abstained. The resolution passed.

The next meeting of Council is on Monday, February 24 at 7 p.m.