A New Chapter for Town Topics

Lynn Adams Smith

In 1950, Town Topics moved into the front office of a three-story brick building at 4 Mercer Street that had been previously occupied by Priest's Pharmacy. In spite of all the changes the Princeton community has gone through during those 54 years, it seemed that the Town Topics building would remain a constant. However, our landlord, Princeton University, has asked us to leave.

Even though the building tends to be cold in the winter, hot in the summer, and doesn't lend itself to new technology, it has served the paper and the community well. Moving out will be like leaving behind an old friend. Deciding to buy rather than rent an office, we searched for a central location to accommodate customers walking in to place classified advertisements. Since the printing takes place elsewhere, we didn't need a large facility.

We are pleased to announce that Town Topics has purchased a building located at 305-307 Witherspoon Street. We have hired Hillier Architecture to transform it into an efficient, comfortable, and attractive new home for Town Topics that will be in scale with the neighborhood.

Construction has not yet begun but we anticipate moving sometime next year. We are very much looking forward to being a part of the Witherspoon neighborhood.

The building may be different, but Princeton's weekly community newspaper will remain the same. The dedicated staff at Town Topics will continue working hard to effectively report the news in Princeton and to publish an informative, quality newspaper.

As for the future of 4 Mercer Street, the University is planning to renovate the building and use it for academic offices. They will be surprised to learn that there is another occupant in the building – the Town Topics ghost. The University might have a little more difficulty getting this tenant to vacate.