U. to renovate Bainbridge House on Nassau Street for arts, culture

The University will convert Bainbridge House, one of the longest standing buildings in Princeton since its construction in 1766, into a multifaceted arts and culture space open to the community.

The goal of the restored Bainbridge House is to make it attractive for a passerby to open the front door, go in and have a moment of discovery by learning more about Princeton, both the town and the University, University Art Museum Director James Steward ’70explained.

The Historical Society of Princeton has rented the 158 Nassau St. building from the University as a museum and library since 1967.

Before the Historical Society began using it, the Princeton Public Library was its tenant for over 50 years. Other community organizations and tenants have rotated through the building during its lifetime, according to the Historical Society’s website.

The societytemporarily closed the space this month to undergo renovation and restoration, Curator of Collections and Exhibitions for the Historical Society Izzy Kasdin ’14 said.

She added thatconstructionon Bainbridgewill begin in 2016 and the project should be completed in the fall of 2017.

“We have a great relationship with the University and always have, so I don’t think that there will be any difficulties in the transition,” Kasdin said.

The society, which had been operating from two sites, has recently moved out of Bainbridge House and will permanently function from its Updike Farmstead location on Quaker Road starting in January 2016, Kasdin said.

The Historical Society is confident that the University will do right by the building, Kasdin said, adding that the University has a lot of respect for all of the historical assets on campus, so she does not expect that they will treat Bainbridge House any differently.

“It’s a beautiful building with lots of great history and great stories. It’s one of the few buildings on Nassau Street still in its original stone foundation,” Kasdin said.

Erin Dougherty, executive director of the Historical Society, was not available for comment.

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Steward, along with a group of other University representatives, includingKristinAppelget, Director of Community and Regional Affairs, decided to introduce a set of “mixed-use possibilities” on the ground floor.

Appelget was not available for comment before press time.

Steward said he thinks there are opportunities to work with community partners given Bainbridge House’s locationnear “cultural amenities” like the Garden Theatre and Labyrinth Books.

Bainbridge will contribute to cultural programming at the University, which Steward noted is already done on a rather dispersed basis, as demonstrated by the variety of spaces for performing arts, visual arts and the Art Museum at the core of campus.

“Symbolically there is something to be said about bringing awareness to some of these programs to the ‘other side of the Street,’ ” Steward remarked, adding that having a presence on Nassau Street will further make the statement that there is a public benefit to having a great research university like this in the heart of Princeton.

Because Nassau Street acts as a divide between the town and the University, Steward said he hopes that Bainbridge House can symbolically transcend that separation.

He added that given that Bainbridge House has long served a public function, the University’s goal is simply to retain that sense of public accessibility.

“It’s really exciting for us that [the University] will still keep that site open to the public and that there will still be a public presence on Nassau Street,” Kasdin said.

Kasdin noted that Bainbridge House has a great location, which definitely serves well for its purpose of inviting community engagement. She said that the building is already set up to be a museum and gallery space, since the Historical Society has done a couple of renovations of the space in the past to accommodate it to its museum needs.

According to Steward, the ground level will certainly still include a gallery space with contents yet to be determined, as well as a satellite of Art Museum stores, which will help showcase the work of regional artisans. The second and third floors will act as an extension to the Museum’s education department.

Caroline Harris, associate director for education at the Art Museum, did not respond to requests for comment.

There will also be a branch of the ticketing office, so community members can be aware of performance schedules.

A couple of the rooms will be used as classrooms, meeting rooms or gathering spaces, according to Steward. For example, Steward said, after a second grade class from the Trenton Public Schools visits the Art Museum, the students can move to Bainbridge House and do hands-on art activities. Additionally, after a film screening at the Garden Theatre, interested guests can go next door and have a discussion led by an expert on film, Steward said.

“One of the things we very much want to do, and I think it will be a challenge for the restoration architect to figure out how to do this, is how to maintain the historic fabric of the house and yet create more of a sense of openness,” Steward said.

Murphy Burnham & Buttrick Architects of New York City will be working with the University to design the changes.

Founding partner Jeffrey Murphy deferred comment toDale Edghill, project manager at the University Office of Design and Construction, who did not respond to a request for comment.

According to Steward, restoration will mostly entail systems maintenance, from heating and cooling to electrical work.

“We’re really pleased with what the University plans to do with it and think that it should work out really well for everyone,” Kasdin said. “I think the whole staff would really love to see what the University does with it and come back once it’s done.”

The last full renovation for Bainbridge House happened from 1991 to 1992.