By Anne Levin

Among the items on the agenda for Princeton Council’s meeting on Tuesday evening, May 27 (after Town Topics’ press time) was a resolution related to the future of one of the two kiosks on Nassau Street.

The governing body was to discuss a resolution authorizing the acceptance of donations to finance a $10,000 prize for a design competition for a new kiosk at Nassau Street and Vandeventer Avenue. The other kiosk is at Nassau and Witherspoon streets.

According to the agenda, the American Institute of Architects of New Jersey (AIANJ) “wishes to administer/oversee/hold a competition for the design of the new kiosk in which a local business is providing the funds for prize amounts.” The business is not named in the resolution.

Since Council heard a report on the future of the kiosks this past March, there has been much discussion and public comment about their fate. While some find the kiosks, on which anyone can post flyers and papers, to be an eyesore, others say they should be retained because they provide an outlet for free speech and community engagement.

Both kiosks need to be removed for a capital improvements project replacing the sidewalks on Nassau Street. What happens to them once the project is finished has not been decided. A report at the March meeting recommended permanently removing the kiosk at Witherspoon Street, and transforming the one at Vandeventer Avenue into a combination of new electronic signage and the existing, informal surfaces. Members of the public were invited to submit suggestions for their fate.

“Whereas, the community has expressed interest in the design of the new kiosk,” the resolution begins, continuing, “AIANJ intends to donate the winning and other kiosk designs to Princeton for potential use for a new kiosk design” and “the kiosk design competition administered by the AIANJ shall not support a for-profit organization or purpose.”

In appreciation for the donation of the $10,000 prize amount, the town will recognize the donor on a placard “that will be installed on the kiosk if and when it is constructed,” the resolution reads.

The kiosks were first installed in the late 1980s and began life as public phone booths and newspaper box receptacles. Over time, they have taken different forms, eventually becoming a place to post flyers for everything from searches for roommates to meetings of special interest groups. Attempts by the town to clean them up or remove them have met with considerable public protest.

The resolution does not indicate any plans to replace the kiosk at Witherspoon Street.