Princeton University Breaks Ground on Lake Campus
by Bill Sanservino
Princeton University marked the start of construction on its new campus in West Windsor with a groundbreaking ceremony. Local officials joined members of the Princeton University community at the event, which took place December 7.
The project, which was approved by the West Windsor Planning Board in 2020, is to be located on a 107-acre tract of land owned by the university and will be the first major development on the university’s property in West Windsor. Princeton owns a significant amount of land in West Windsor and Plainsboro, including 400 acres bounded by Alexander Road, Lake Carnegie, Harrison Street, and Route 1, which the university has held for more than 100 years. The Lake Campus will be located within that tract to the north of Washington Road.
“The West Windsor Lake Campus will be a lively community with space to support academic partnerships, graduate student housing, varsity athletics, recreational uses, and parking,” says the Princeton University facilities website. “The Lake Campus will provide a place that is experienced as a natural, yet distinctive extension of the existing campus.”
The project — slated to be completed in 2023 — will include housing for more than 600 post-doc and graduate students and a parking garage. To be built by 2025 are sports facilities including a tennis and racket center with eight indoor tennis courts, eight outdoor courts, 14 squash courts; a softball stadium; playing fields for rugby and recreational sports; and a new cross-country course.
The graduate housing complex will consist of 379 housing units in three separate buildings — a total of 329,000 square feet. The buildings are planned to be three stories tall, with small single-story portions used for a café and community center serving the complex. A series of portals will connect landscaped courtyards and outdoor amenities at the ground level, including a community garden, a play space, a volleyball court, and barbecue areas.
“The design of each of these facilities has been carefully integrated into the existing Lake Campus context, with circulation, landscape, and infrastructure meant to create a distinctive sense of place and enhance the arrival experience from the landing of the Washington Road bridge,” says the university’s facilities website.
The five-tier parking garage is intended to serve the shared parking needs of the Lake Campus as it grows over time. It is positioned north of Washington Road and allows drivers to park immediately upon entering the new campus.
In its initial phase, the garage will include 612 spaces for the graduate student residents on the Lake Campus, as well as parking for athletic events and visitors. The building will feature a fabric facade, which is intended to soften the appearance and provide an architectural backdrop to the Washington Road landscape. The Garage will include 20 electric vehicle charging stations and is designed to allow for a rooftop solar array to be added at a later date.
“We have appreciated the support of stakeholders and partners at the local, county, and state level as we developed plans for this first phase of Lake Campus,” said Princeton University President Christopher Eisgruber during the groundbreaking. “We are especially appreciative of the warm welcome that we have received from officials in West Windsor.”
Said West Windsor Mayor Hemant Marathe: “I want to welcome Princeton University on behalf of everybody in West Windsor and look forward to a very long and productive partnership with all of you.”
Other representatives from West Windsor in attendance included council President Andrea Mandel, and council members Linda Geevers, Mike Stevens, and Sonia Gawas. Mercer County officials included County Executive Brian Hughes and Board of Commissioners member Nina Melker.
The 2020 planning board approval was for a general development plan, which lays the groundwork — including phasing — for development of the site over the next 20 years. Earlier this year, the board approved specific site plans for Lake Campus North and Lake Campus South.
The initial phase of the project will create the backbone of infrastructure, including roadways and underground utilities, that will serve the Lake Campus as it develops over time. Eisgruber said that after the initial phase of development is complete, the Lake Campus will provide potential sites for locating world-class scientific facilities, enabling Princeton to strengthen the region’s innovation ecosystem and creating opportunities for academic partnerships with the nonprofit, corporate, and government sectors.
“We look forward to continued engagement in future phases as we refine our vision for additional facilities that will advance the University’s mission and enhance our ability to make an impact on the world,” Eisgruber said.
According to statistics provided by the university, the site will create nearly 1,000 construction jobs over the next four years. When the first phase is complete, at least 30 permanent university jobs will have been created in association with these new facilities.
The project boasts a number of sustainability features.
Within the development will be a geo-exchange facility that will be heated and cooled with thermal energy by more than 150 well bores located beneath the softball stadium. It will heat and cool the new graduate student housing and new racquet center as well as provide capacity for future construction.
The graduate student housing will feature “passive house design,” which is a first of its kind for the university. The reduction of energy usage associated with the design decreases the number of geo-exchange bores required for the system, resulting in a more efficient use of the land.
The university already produces 4.5 megawatts of solar energy in West Windsor at an existing solar field. This will be increased to 12.2 megawatts when two additional solar fields already under construction in West Windsor are completed. This will represent nearly 75 percent of the university’s overall solar production capacity.
Also in the project are extensive pathways to local and regional path systems to encourage walking and biking, and connections to TigerTransit to encourage use of mass transit.
The landscape design provides the setting for a unique integration with the larger Princeton campus, and with the D&R Canal State Park with the design of the campus intended to contribute to the ecological role of the park corridor.
Get Your COVID Booster Shot
December 15 marks one year since the very first COVID-19 vaccines were administered, and one year later everyone ages 16 and over who has already been vaccinated is being encouraged to get a booster dose of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. First and second doses are also available.
The following Mercer County COVID-19 vaccination clinics, in partnership with Capital Health and Penn Medicine Princeton Health, are free, regardless of immigration or insurance status. Schedule an appointment through the NJ Vaccine Scheduling System or call 1-855-568-0545. Some sites also accept walk-ins.
At the CURE Insurance Arena, Gate A South Broad Street entrance in Trenton, clinic are offered on the following dates.
Thursday, December 16,10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Monday, December 20, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Tuesday, December 21, noon to 6 p.m. Pediatric-focused clinic, limited walk-ins.
Monday, December 27, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Tuesday, December 28, noon to 6 p.m.
Thursday, December 30, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Pediatric-focused clinic, limited walk-ins
A heated tent adjacent to the Trenton Farmers Market at 930 Spruce Street, Lawrence, heated tent next to Trenton Farmers Market hosts the following clinics
Friday, December 17, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and Wednesday, December 29, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Pop-up clinics take place Thursday, December 16, and Thursday, January 6, from 4 to 6 p.m. at Mercer County Park Skating Center on Old Trenton Road in West Windsor; and Monday, December 20, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Ewing Senior Center, 999 Lower Ferry Road, Ewing.
Deaths
Delores C. Curtis, 87, on December 8. She worked for American Cyanamid Research Company for 25 years in positions including office manager, salesforce trainer, and customer service.
Mildred D. Soltowski, 90, on November 30. She worked as an assistant manager for various Mercer County branches of PNC Bank during a 40-year career there.
Carmela M. Rubino, 92, on December 5. She worked for the state Department of Transportation for many years.
Anthony Joseph Fantauzzo, 96, on December 5. A longtime resident of Hamilton Square, he was a master carpenter with Local Union #31 and an Army veteran who served during World War II.
James Anthony Fuccello, 64, on December 3. He owned and operated Fuccello’s Custom Exhaust in Hamilton.
Evelyn Anne Gill, 79, on December 8. She coached tennis at Princeton Indoor Tennis Center and the Trenton YWCA, where she later served as director of Health Education and Recreation and Women’s Services. She also founded the first Mercer County-wide track competition for high school girls and in 1985 co-founded Prevention Education Inc., a social service agency now known as PEI Kids.
Julius John Piljar, 76, on December 7. He had worked at Cammerzell Tool & Die Works in Trenton.
Catherine V. Amico, 81, on December 6. After serving as a nun for 25 years, she worked in computer programming for the state Department of Treasury.
Joseph R. Petrino, 90, on December 4. A veteran of the Korean War, he worked as a water meter reader for the City of Trenton and managed Patrino’s Trenton Star, a smoke and candy store his father owned in Trenton’s Chambersburg neighborhood.
Harriet Elaine Jones, 75, on December 9. She worked for the state of New Jersey for 27 years and also was an artist with the Arc of Trenton.
