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Princeton officials: new community center fully funded; Grady School renovation underway
Summary
At a July 7 Princeton Board of Commissioners meeting, town officials outlined funding for a new community center and heard a presentation on restoring the historic Princeton Grady School. Speakers described phased renovation work, fundraising totals and plans for programming; concerns about an on-site cemetery were raised by residents.
The Princeton Board of Commissioners on July 7 reported that the town’s new community center is fully funded and heard a presentation on efforts to restore the historic Princeton Grady School and use it for cultural and educational programming.
Mayor (unnamed) told the board the new community center is “fully funded through state, funding, local, public and private donations, and library contributions. No tax payer money is being used here.” The mayor listed contributions the meeting record attributes as follows: the Princeton Library, $428,000; the North Carolina legislature, $815,000; Hansen Rockmore, $68,000; Perdini Family Farms and Produce, $15,000; and private, unnamed donations totaling $70,000, for a fundraising total of $1,396,000.
Kay Brimage, a representative of the Princeton Grady School, told the board an arborist from Duke Energy would begin work the next morning to help preserve the older section of the school building. Brimage said the restoration is planned in phases: phase 1 will focus on the 1925 section of the building, phase 2 involves the 1960 addition, and a possible phase 3 would add a separate building to house a commercial kitchen. Brimage said the goal is to operate the building as a multipurpose center offering after-school programming and cultural events and to bring outside experts and instructors into town.
Brimage said fundraising and grant activity has increased the project’s resources, and that an additional $500,000 had “fell through for other projects,” bringing the project to about $1.5 million in available funds for the work discussed at the meeting.
Residents at the meeting raised questions about a cemetery located in the woods adjacent to the school building. One participant asked whether headstones and graves would be affected; Brimage responded that the cemetery is on the right flank of the building and that the project team is aware of it and discussing how to avoid disturbing graves.
The mayor also told the board that TRC—consultants assisting the town on utilities grants—will revise and reapply this fall for a vulnerable utilities funding program after a statewide award round this spring left many applicants unfunded. The mayor said the town’s earlier application scored “about 1.2 points below” successful applicants but that more funding rounds will be available.
No formal vote on the Grady School restoration was recorded at the July 7 meeting; the item was presented for information and discussion.
