January 8: Statement on Faculty Housing
The following is a letter that was sent by Robbert Dijkgraaf, Director and Leon Levy Professor, to the Institute Board of Trustees, Faculty and Emeriti, Staff, and Friends of the Institute on January 7, 2016.
Dear Colleagues:
I write to update you regarding the Faculty Housing project. As you know, the Institute for Advanced Study recently began to prepare the site for construction. This has spurred yet another round of activity from the Princeton Battlefield Society, in collaboration with the Civil War Trust, which has contacted area legislators to seek support in stopping the project. Senator Christopher “Kip” Bateman requested a hearing on the project in the State Senate Environment and Energy Committee on December 21, 2015. We were not informed of the hearing by legislative officials and were not asked to attend; in fact, we learned of the hearing from the press. The Senator did not reach out to us directly to express his concerns prior to asking for a hearing. The result of the hearing was a letter signed by Bob Smith, Linda Greenstein, and Bateman, asking for a stay on the project from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), who did not send a representative to the meeting.
A straightforward review of the development and approval of the project would have been instructive for the Senator and others who have been recently vocal in their opposition to it. The Institute received two unanimous affirmative Princeton Planning Board approvals, even after four years of persistent challenges by the opposition. The two applications spanned six public hearings with extensive expert testimony refuting the opponents’ claims. The Planning Board’s decisions, challenged by the Battlefield Society, resulted in two trial court decisions overwhelmingly affirming the Institute’s right to build. Both the Appellate Division and the New Jersey Supreme Court refused to stay those decisions any further. The Institute holds valid required NJDEP approvals, the propriety of which has been reaffirmed by five site visits, the most recent of which took place in mid-December at Senator Bateman’s request. In sum, our right to build is not in doubt.
The Institute has endeavored to accommodate reasonable project-related concerns and has spent many years working to bring this project to fruition. You may not know that the Institute, early on and on more than one occasion, attempted to engage the Battlefield Society in direct conversation—using the good offices of then-Congressman Rush Holt—and two of the most renowned preservationist historians in the country to do so, only to be rebuffed. Despite the opposition’s refusal to engage, our sensitivity to preservation is evident in the project we are about to construct. As summarized in the statement attached below, the Institute made extensive changes to the site plans, including moving the project further away from the Park, adjusting the profiles and materials of the housing units, and enhancing the landscaped screen between the site and the Park. Archaeological surveys have been conducted on the project site to recover remaining artifacts, and to meet commitments made to the Princeton Planning Board in the course of its approval of the project.
Thank you for your patience and support over the years. Your confidence in our handling of this matter has been a mainstay of our efforts.
Robbert Dijkgraaf
Director and Leon Levy Professor
The following statement was posted on the Institute website on December 9, 2015. Please feel free to direct those who have questions to the site for a fuller discussion of these issues; links are provided below.
The Institute has received all necessary approvals and permissions from the relevant agecies.The project meets a critical need for the Institute, which has taken great care to address all reason- able concerns relative to preservation issues in consultation with historians James McPherson and David Hackett Fischer. The Institute made extensive changes to the site plans, including moving the project further away from the Park, adjusting the profiles and materials of the housing units, and enhancing the landscaped screen between the site and the Park. Archaeological surveys have been conducted on the project site to recover remaining artifacts, and to meet commitments made to the Princeton Planning Board in the course of its approval of the project. At no cost to the public, fourteen acres will soon be open public space subject to a conservation easement, includ- ing a 200-foot-wide parcel adjacent to the Princeton Battlefield State Park that will become, in effect, part of the Park. In 1971, the Institute sold to the State of New Jersey land that increased the size of the Battlefield Park by some thirty-eight percent. The creation of more open public space further underscores the Institute’s commitment and sensitivity to battlefield preservation and stewardship.