Witherspoon/ Nassau Kiosk Will Be Renovated First

With a new design for the upgrade of two downtown kiosks that increases public posting area, the Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce received approval to upgrade one of the structures from the Borough Council on April 8.

With Borough Council’s approval to upgrade the most rundown one of the two downtown kiosks, the next step for the Chamber is to lease it from the municipality.

The lease for the kiosk at the corner of Nassau and Witherspoon Streets, which is being drafted to go before the Borough Council on April 22, will contain a five-year term for the contract. There will be an option to renew for an additional five years. The proposed amount is $1, which is what was proposed in the original contract last year.

“We are excited to be moving forward with the new design, which will help make Princeton more visitor-friendly,” said Peter Crowley, CEO and president of the Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce. “Part of our role in the community is economic development and the increased visibility along with new organization of the advertisements—both free public postings and paid—will allow both visitors and residents to quickly find the information they are looking for.”

Tourism is a $1 billion industry and getting information out to visitors is essential, according to  Lori Rabon, chair of the Princeton Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau and general manager of the Nassau Inn.

Princeton restaurateur Jack Morrison said the kiosks would become a tool for visitors wandering around looking for information.

The new design, based on feedback from elected officials, the public, local businesses, and nonprofits, features 12 panels that increase the area available for the public to use in addition to municipal information and marketing space for local businesses.

“We’ve designed this with the users in mind,” Crowley said. “We’ve created designated space on the new design that will accommodate what the future users have been asking for with a significant increase in public posting space.”

Councilman Lance Liverman said the plans would be a way to support the business community, which was extremely supportive of the town after Hurricane Sandy. He also said the Chamber taking over the maintenance of the kiosk would help an overworked Public Works department and municipal finances.

The new design, done by Princeton architect J. Robert Hillier’s studiohillier, has recessed sides to create more surface area and lighten the appearance of the structure. With these changes, the surface space of the kiosk is increased to 143 square feet from the original 118 square feet. The Chamber plans to keep as much of the original structure as possible and the new sign panels will fit within the existing structure.

Indenting the sides increases the surface area because the two sides of the triangle have more surface area than the hypotenuse, Hillier said.

Recessing half of the panels also gives the added benefit of having the roof cover the public panels, which will cut down on damage to postings from wind, rain and sun.

The kiosks will be designed with low-energy LED lighting, paid for and maintained by the Chamber.

“By upgrading the design we will reduce the amount of paper that now overwhelms the structure and litters the ground while maintaining the public’s ability to post information for free,” said Mr. Crowley.

The Chamber will provide information about advertising to its members and local business community.