To the delight of many local residents, Preservation New Jersey (PNJ) includes Valley Road School on its annual list of the Ten Most Endangered Historic Places in New Jersey, as was announced last Wednesday, May 22.

PNJ describes the building at 369 Witherspoon Street, as “Princeton’s first integrated elementary school and an ideal candidate for rehabilitation, threatened by poor stewardship and uncertainty of future plans.”

On the same day as the announcement, the Valley Road School-Adaptive Reuse Committee (VRS-ARC) and the Valley Road School Community Center, Inc.(VRSCCI), a 501(c)(3) non-profit, launched a campaign to put the question of saving Valley Road School on November’s General Election Ballot.

“May 22 has been a big day for saving Valley Road School,” said Kip Cherry, president of VRSCCI in an press release. “Not only does Valley Road School represent an important part of Princeton’s very significant history over the last 100 years, but as an adaptive reuse, we see the building fulfilling a major need in the future as a center for nonprofit organizations serving the Princeton Community.”

Supporters of the community center plan envisage the almost 100 year-old building providing office, classroom, and meeting spaces for community organizations as well as two black box theaters. “Nonprofits serving Princeton residents have ongoing problems in finding affordable rental space,” said Ms. Cherry.

They would like to rent the building from its owner, the Princeton Public Schools Board of Education, for a nominal annual fee. Their hope is that the PNJ designation will speed their cause.

To get a public question on the ballot a petition must be signed by 10 percent of voters participating in the last general election. The group will therefore require 2,033 signatures from Princeton residents registered to vote.

According to former Mayor Richard Woodbridge, VRSCCI’s secretary, and president of VRS-ARC, the inclusion of Valley Road School on PNJ’s 2013 most endangered list is “huge for several reasons,” not least of which is the “total denial of the the historic importance of this building” by its owners, the Princeton Public Schools Board.

John Clearwater, VRSCCI board member and a former School Board president, points out that PNJ gives weight to buildings that have a good chance of being saved — where there is not only a highly motivated group eager and capable of raising funds to save the building, but also an important historical purpose and a major need within the community that further justifies investing in its renovation.”

PNJ’s list spotlights irreplaceable historic, architectural, cultural, and archeological resources in the state that are in imminent danger of being lost. Selections are based on three criteria — historic significance and architectural integrity, the critical nature of the threat identified, and the likelihood that inclusion on the list will have a positive impact on efforts to protect the resource.

The VRS team will be passing around the petition and staffing a table at key points around the community sporting a banner in the Valley Road School colors, red and white.

A statement from PNJ includes the following: “Valley Road School, now nearing 100 years old, is one of the Princeton area’s last remaining historic public school buildings. The original two-story school was designed by Robert A. Schumann and built on land given to ‘the inhabitants of Princeton Township’ by Ernest and Grace Richardson …. The Collegiate Gothic architectural style of the original Valley Road School building — particularly its three arched entrances — was inspired by buildings on the nearby Princeton University campus, and in turn inspired the design of the adjacent Mercer No. 3 Firehouse.”

The statement goes on to describe the former school, which opened in 1918, as “well-constructed” and representing “Princeton’s immigrant heritage, as many of the skilled masons who built it were Italian-Americans from the village of Pettoranello in the Molise region of Italy.”

Currently, the older portion of the building houses municipality-related organizations that were allowed to remain in the building when the municipality relocated across the street.

Earlier this year, the municipality created a task force to explore the building in the context of a possible expansion of the firehouse on Witherspoon Street.

To see PNJ’s 19th annual list of the 10 Most Endangered Historic Places, visit: www.pnj10most.org or www.preservationnj.org.