By Anne Levin
Princeton’s Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) wants to know your thoughts about how the town interprets, promotes, and preserves local history.
Members of the public have until the end of this week to respond to a 10-question survey designed to help the HPC “complete advisory, educational, and informational functions that will promote historic preservation in Princeton,” reads the survey, which is available at forms.office.com/r/h35XxT39yG.
“It’s been out about a week and we’ve had about 100 responses,” said Sara Quinlan, who has been Princeton’s historic preservation officer since January. The HPC has been in the process of reorganizing its subcommittees, and has combined those focused on its website, communications, and education into one.
“The idea was to get together on the municipal newsletter or some other way, and find where the knowledge gaps may be,” said Quinlan. “It was a natural progression.”
The survey asks how often people consider the town’s historic buildings, streetscapes, architecture, and notable residents when they think of Princeton. Next is a question about what comes to mind when people think about historic preservation in Princeton — preservation of historic architecture, neighborhood character, historic streetscapes, or history and cultural heritage.
Familiarity with the town’s 21 local historic districts is the topic of another question. While many are acquainted with the Princeton Battlefield and Stony Brook Settlement, Drumthwacket, Jugtown, and the Witherspoon-Jackson districts, there may be less familiarity with Mansgrove, the Kingston Mill, and Joline-Gulick House designations.
“Princeton is certainly more informed than some other towns, which doesn’t surprise me,” said Quinlan, who worked in Jersey City and then at FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) before starting at the HPC. “But not everyone is aware of how many districts we actually have, and where they are.”
Respondents are asked what they think the goals of the HPC should be. Boxes to check range from protecting and maintaining historic buildings and streetscapes within the Municipality to creating climate and flood adaptation and sustainability guidelines for historic buildings.
“People are interested in preserving historic architecture, but also in other aspects of historic preservation,” said Quinlan. “They want to know how it relates to things on the federal level. They want to know how the HPC actually works.”
The survey is a tool to identify the best ways to keep the public informed on preservation issues, whether through newsletters, news flashes, and posts. “By assessing the public’s knowledge of historic preservation efforts in Princeton, they HPC can better curate information to distribute for public use,” the survey reads.
“Princeton is a learning curve,” said Quinlan. “It’s a very unique municipality. We have the rural and the town and the University and the suburban, a little bit of everything and all types of resources and districts.”