As a $150,000 fund-raising effort to permanently illuminate the Revolutionary War Monument at Borough Hall continues, a picture of Princeton's past, not only historical, but developmental, is beginning to surface.
Last Tuesday, representing the Princeton Parks Alliance, architect Kevin Wilkes outlined for members of Borough Council the current effort, and pointed out that, while Princeton has changed drastically since the monument's completion in 1922, some things have very much stayed the same.
So the news that it took decades to build the monument, let alone deciding where to locate it, came as no surprise to the Alliance representative, who acknowledged the Borough's reputation for meticulous attention to detail at the occasional expense of speedy development.
On January 3, 1887, a committee was created to assemble a suitable monument commemorating the Battle of Princeton and Gen. Hugh Mercer and to launch a campaign to raise money from both private citizens and from the New Jersey Legislature, with the original funding for the monument coming from Princeton residents, the federal government, and donations from Princeton University. Among the largest private donations from a private resident was that of Moses Taylor Pyne, who had been instrumental in expanding Princeton from a college into a University.
The final location of the monument, which now lies at the head of Monument Park directly to the east of Historic Morven Museum and Garden, was debated in a style similar to what the town would experience with Palmer Square and the ongoing downtown development. "You'll find it hard to imagine that there was significant debate over the development in town," Mr. Wilkes said, drawing laughter from Council members.
The first major discussion about location focused on whether the monument should be located at the Battle Field on Mercer Road or in town, with the final in-town location ultimately chosen because the members of the committee "wanted to celebrate an event, and not a specific geographic location."
The design process was decidedly more complicated, with several design proposals put forth, none of which included the final design of the monument. The first design would have featured a Corinthian column with Gen. George Washington standing at the top with an arm raised in victory. Gen. Mercer, along with U.S. Constitution signatories (and Princeton residents) Richard Stockton and John Witherspoon, would have flanked Gen. Washington. An interesting note is that this design would have been located at the corner of Mercer and Nassau Street.
"Some people didn't like this design, and some people thought Washington should have been depicted on a horse," Mr. Wilkes said, adding that Alan Marquand, a member of the monument commission and a well known art history professor at the University "elbowed" the plan out of the way.
Subsequent designs were discussed for about 15 years to no avail until the early 1900s when the initiative was revisited, Mr. Wilkes said. In 1906, the monument idea was revived and the commission reconstituted to bring in American artist Frederick MacMonnies to tackle the project. Mr. MacMonnies accepted the offer to design the monument in January 1908 — 21 years after the monument committee was established.
Mr. MacMonnies's first design was not well received. "It was, as we artists like to say, 'winging it,'" Mr. Wilkes said, describing a base, a "clichéd, winged Victory from an ancient design.
"He was focused on other issues at the time, clearly."
The commission, not surprisingly, passed on that design.
Subsequent versions featured Victory represented by an allegorical young republic, but still received a lukewarm reception, Mr. Wilkes said.
But then in 1912, the idea of creating a pylon, a sort of monumental gateway, surfaced, with a new site: this time at the corner of Nassau and Stockton streets, and Bayard Lane.
Mr. MacMonnies hired the architect Thomas Hastings to design a surrounding area to the monument, with the ultimate result depicting the large pylon with a sculpture relief grouping on the face of the structure.
So, while it "only took 139 years" after Gen. Washington disbanded the army, Mr. Wilkes said, the monument was ultimately dedicated on June 9, 1922, with President Warren G. Harding on hand for the event.
———
Last fall, the Princeton Parks Alliance announced the lighting project, carrying out the goal of the late Borough Mayor Joseph O'Neill, who had long sought to light the monument as a means of reinvigorating that end of Nassau Street and drawing pedestrians to the site. On October 16, the monument was temporarily lit — an accurate indication of what is to come, as the Alliance announced two weeks ago that it had achieved 80 percent of its fund-raising goal.
The lighting effort is concurrent with the state Department of Environmental Protection cleaning project, with the actual lighting targeted for completion by January 3, 2007 — the 230th anniversary of the Battle of Princeton.
———
The Princeton Battle Monument Lighting Committee will host a fund-raising effort on April 29 at 5:30 p.m. at Palmer House hoping to achieve the remaining $15,000 of the project goal. Tickets are $125 and can be obtained by calling (609) 921-3800 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
After last night's hearing, the neighbors and Borough are expected to collaborate in bringing in a naturalist before moving toward the design phase.