Thirty-five years after its infamous green and red bars were gutted, Cannon Club may go back on tap.
"We expect that construction might begin sometime in '07 in order to reopen in February of '08," said Warren Crane '62, graduate board president of the consolidated Dial, Elm and Cannon Club (DEC).
Since most of the new members would be sophomores with residential college dining contracts, full operations at Cannon would not begin until September 2008.
The DEC board will spend several million dollars to reopen the storied clubhouse at 21 Prospect Ave. The University has owned the building since 1973. Rechristened as Notestein Hall, the building has housed the Office of Population Research and the University Writing Program, but now stands empty.
"That's an all-in cost for acquiring the property, doing the renovation [and] ... all the necessary furnishings and equipment, down to the plates and silverware," Crane said.
In 2005, DEC reported total assets of $3,859,196 to the IRS, according to its nonprofit tax filing.
"We think we have enough to reopen. I don't think that will be a significant issue," Crane said.
The club has missed several previous target dates for reopening. The University first imposed a deadline of April 1999 for the graduate board to repurchase the club. The deadline was extended twice to 2001 while the club raised funds. When the purchase was finalized that year, Crane said the club had a 50 percent chance of reopening in 2002.
The University is aiding the effort to revive Cannon Club by working with the graduate board to finalize the transfer of the building and grounds.
To Bicker or not to Bicker
Cannon Club "will likely open Bicker," Interclub Council president Marco Fossati-Bellani '07 said in an email.
Crane, however, said the DEC board has not decided whether to open Cannon as a Bicker or sign-in club. Currently, five eating clubs conduct Bicker and five take members by sign-in lottery.
The University has no official position on how Cannon should pick its members, Executive Vice President Mark Burstein said.
"Eating clubs are an essential part of the Princeton experience for many students here," he said. "One more club makes it that much more likely that that experience will be enriched. The location of Cannon will probably add more vibrancy on Prospect and we are supportive of that."
President Tilghman said in an email that she is "in favor" of reopening the club because it "provides students with a new option."
Tilghman personally objects, however, to the prospect of another Bicker club. Selective membership processes subvert the University goal of diversity, she said.
"I would prefer it if Cannon decides to be a sign-in club," she said. "Sign-ins put more choices in student hands who are looking for eating options as juniors and seniors."
Building a membership
Crane said the graduate board has not finalized its strategies for recruiting members.
He noted that the graduate board expects to take mostly sophomores, but would also like to include some juniors and seniors when the club restarts. While the DEC board is "sensitive" that a reopened Cannon might poach 150 to 200 current or potential members from other clubs, it does not expect or aim to draw a significant number of independents.
"We really don't think it is realistic that, if we were to take any upperclassmen, it would be only upperclassmen who are not members of any eating club. That would be sort of discriminatory," Crane said.
Fossatti-Bellani said the loss of members to Cannon by other clubs is "a fact, it's not a concern," but suggested that the club "will increase the number of Bicker slots" available to students.
Restoring Cannon to its former grandeur
Cannon's imposing stone exterior, made of local lockatong argillite, will need few repairs. The millions raised by DEC alumni will mainly fund the reconstruction of the interior, Crane said.
After the club closed in 1973, the University spent more than $700,000 — about $3 million in today's dollars — to ready the facility for use by Office of Population Research. The building now bears few traces of its former social function.
Cannon Club was legendary for the double taproom in its basement. Members were known to slide between bars on a half-inch of beer. During its renovations, the University tore out the taprooms and removed the original gas wall lamps and much of the wood paneling.
Today, Cannon is musty, stuffy and dank. Floors are either bare concrete or clad in industrial carpet. Most walls are painted plain white and tinged with dirt or water stains. The upper outdoor deck is covered in a thick layer of moss. The pieces of furniture can be counted on one hand.
The vast, two-story living room, however, retains some vestiges of the club's past. Three leaded windows bear stained-glass roundels of University emblems. A colossal stone fireplace is carved with a tiger head, twin cannons and the roman numerals of the year Cannon was chartered. Intricately carved dark wood columns and panels flank the hearth.
Real estate details remain
Dec can begin construction on Cannon Club once it takes possession of the building from the University.
"We're in the process of finalizing a number of issues with the University which I anticipate concluding by the end of this calendar year," Crane said.
In May 1997, to make room for Wallace Hall, the University paid DEC $1.25 million for the one-acre vacant parking lot behind Dial Lodge. At the same time, the University agreed to acquire Dial Lodge and Elm Club for $2 million and the transfer of the Cannon Club grounds. DEC also retained the option to buy back the Cannon Club building, which it exercised in 2001.
"The University has been in conversations with Cannon Club off and on for a couple years to help the club get restarted and also to complete a real estate transaction," Burstein said. "It's my view that we are close to completing that real estate transaction that will allow the reopening of the club."
"DEC has been very collaborative with the University in trying to fulfill its needs and we have been very collaborative with DEC in trying to fulfill its desire to reopen," he added.
Tomorrow: The rise and fall (and rise?) of Cannon Club: 1895-2008.
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