Bainbridge House, the historic building that has served as home to the Historical Society of Princeton (HSP) since 1967, is being turned into an arts-focused information center and gathering space. The circa 1766 house at 158 Nassau Street will also be home to new administrative space for the education staff of the Princeton University Art Museum, the University announced Tuesday.

The Historical Society, which has been renting the building from the University for $1 a year for several decades, is relocating to Updike Farmstead on Quaker Road. Currently closed, the HSP will reopen on January 6 at Updike Farm. The organization has been dividing its operations and exhibits between the two locations since purchasing the six-acre farm in 2004.

The University is planning a renovation and restoration of Bainbridge House. When completed, it will be used “to inform visitors about arts and humanities offerings, including those at the Princeton University Art Museum, and the Lewis Center for the Arts, and encourage further participation by the wider Princeton community and visitors in the University’s programs,” according to a press release issued by the University.

There will be galleries, gathering spaces, a showcase for local artisans, and a ticketing center on the ground floor. The Art Museum education staff will run the public spaces. “The focus of the project will be to provide a location that is both open and welcoming to the community and visitors to the region, and encourage all to discover the rich cultural opportunities available in Princeton,” the release continues.

Murphy Bunrham & Buttrick Architects of New York City has been engaged to help come up with a preservation and restoration plan for the building’s historic features while simultaneously updating it and making it more accessible. Construction is expected to begin next year, with the building targeted for occupancy in fall 2017.

Built in 1766 by Job Stockton, a prosperous tanner and cousin of Richard Stockton, signer of the Declaration of Independence, Bainbridge House is one of the oldest surviving buildings in Princeton and one of the area’s best preserved examples of mid-Georgian architecture. Before the Historical Society moved into Bainbridge House, the building was home to the Princeton Public Library for more than 50 years.

Upon reopening at its consolidated location next month, the Historical Society will have a new multimedia exhibition, showcasing the Einstein Collection. “The Einstein Salon and Innovators Gallery” includes Albert Einstein’s personal belongings and photographs, while also highlighting one of his contemporaries, mathematician John von Neumann, the pioneer of game theory and one of the conceptual inventors of the stored-program digital computer.

The museum will have new hours: Wednesday through Sunday noon to 4 p.m., with extended hours Thursday until 7 p.m. Admission will remain at $4 per person, but on Thursdays admission is free from 4 to 7 p.m.

“We are delighted to have the opportunity to use this iconic building on Nassau Street to continue to bring creative programs from campus to town,” said Kristin Appelget, the University’s director of community and regional affairs. “As a new gateway to the arts and humanities, the building will have spaces in which the public will have opportunities to participate in full and varied programs, whether it is a lecture and discussion, a performance, an exhibition or a children’s program.”