In the waning days before opening their new home, members of the West Windsor Arts Council scrambled inside the welcome area of their new building, where various chairs and tools were strewn about, and officials discussed remaining items on their to-do lists.
Two appointments — one for the electrician and another for the official who would be installing the welcome window’s wrap-around countertop — loomed on the day’s busy schedule.
In many environments, one could imagine the last-minute preparations for opening a new building would cause quite a bit of stress. But not for the Arts Council.
“Stressful? No,” said Arts Council board member Paul Cerna. “We’re excited. We’ve been anticipating this for a long time.”
The arts council’s new home is in the Princeton Junction firehouse on Alexander Road, a building constructed by volunteers who would eventually give up their free time — and risked their lives — to protect the community. The building is no longer the home of the volunteer firefighters, as the West Windsor Arts Council prepares to open the renovated structure on Saturday, September 25, for its own uses. Still, the spirit of volunteerism remains in the building — right down to its bathrooms.
The Arts Council, which has turned the firehouse into its new headquarters, will use the space to bring art and cultural programs to the West Windsor community and its neighbors. Arts Council board member Heidi Kleinman, who is an architect by day and helped design some of the building’s features, said the Arts Council sees itself as just another addition to an area rich in culture, and it hopes others will catch on to the message.
“We are the new neighbor in the neighborhood of arts organizations,” she said, referencing the other area arts organizations, including the McCarter Theater, the Princeton University Arts Museum, and the Westminster Choir College, to name a few. “They see us as a sister organization.”
In fact, area arts and cultural organizations like these will be on hand to help the West Windsor Arts Council kick off the opening of its new building with a block party that begins at 11:40 a.m. with a ribbon dance ceremony down Alexander Road to the new arts center.
During the event, visitors will be able to get their first glimpses of the new building, where the Arts Council has added its own artistic touch to the building’s accents.
At the same time, the building pays homage to the volunteer efforts of both the past and present, as much of the arts council’s new home was made possible through the work of volunteers. Its themed bathrooms, a concept conceived by Kleinman, features in-wall pictures around the entire room. Each bathroom carries a different theme. One is performing arts, while another is visual arts, but there is one dedicated to volunteerism, featuring a firefighter’s coat and helmet, and other images that recall the building’s roots.
“This building had years of history before we became the tenant,” explained Kleinman, who was among the Arts Council members working on the final touches before the building’s debut. “We included images of the Princeton Junction firehouse to remind people of the history of volunteerism in West Windsor.”
All of the bathrooms in the building are handicapped accessible (made possible by accessibility grant money), so as not to single out their accessibility — and to make the building uniform for all. “It should be invisible,” said Kleinman of the accessibility.
But the bathrooms are just one example of the intricate renovation work that has gone into turning the building into the township’s arts headquarters. Outside, the stone used in the path leading up to the entrance is continued in the flooring in the welcome area, complete with a cafe setting to invite passersby into an arts atmosphere.
Heading into the welcome area, tables and chairs that can seat up to 16 people are immediately in sight, where one can grab a quick refreshment, chat with friends, or utilize the building’s WiFi access. Directly ahead is a refreshment counter, where coffee and pastries will be available for sale. To the right, one will encounter an exhibition wall of work, which pulls visitors into the artistic environment. To the left is the welcome window, where visitors can purchase tickets to upcoming events and pick up brochures and other information about programs offered by the Arts Council.
Above the refreshment counter sits a smaller kitchen (the stoves from the firehouse era have been removed) with sinks and countertop space as well as space for a microwave. It will be a place to hang the banners of past events, creating a “history wall.”
The effect is to demonstrate the arts council’s history of providing cultural events for the community. “The building is new; the organization is old,” explains Kleinman.
The artistic touch is not limited to the wall. In fact, the ceiling will even feature a series of lanterns made by artists. “Using the ceiling as exhibition space is part of the concept,” said Kleinman.
Aside from the artistic accents, the building also serves two other important functions: providing the much needed storage and meeting space that the Arts Council needs. To the left of the refreshments counter is the firefighter-themed bathroom as well as a door leading downstairs to the storage area. Behind the welcome window is office space that leads upstairs to a “volunteer” room, which will serve as space for the Arts Council’s board of directors to hold meetings and an area where the volunteers at the Arts Council can work.
Moving on from the welcome area, visitors move to the right, passing the elevator access and stepping up into the building’s biggest space: the multi-use performance room, where the Arts Council plans to hold visual arts performances, dances, lectures, and many other events. When it’s completely furnished, it will feature a stage and curtains and will seat 125 people.
The room boasts three different lighting systems, including an exhibition system with a tracking system so that art on the walls can be showcased, while the rest of the room is lit at a dimmer shade. The ceiling was designed in a way that allows for electricity and lighting control access in multiple locations so that a stage can be created from any point in the room.
“This gives us the opportunity to create different lighting effects,” said Kleinman.
There is also a sound and lighting control booth, and three quarters of the floor in the performance room is made from a type of wood material that is “excellent for dancers who want spring in the floor,” said Kleinman.
Located just off the performance space are two bathrooms — complete with the performance arts and visual arts themes.
From the performance space, one can also access the Florence Bell Hillier Visual Arts Studio, a room the size of two classrooms that provides art sinks and other space for classes and programs. Architect Bob Hillier donated money for naming rights of the room in memory of his mother, who was a local artist.
Because it has two access doors to the performance space and because it has its own bathroom (with a theme of literary arts), on the night of a performance, the room doubles as a green room to provide access back stage.
The visual arts studio also has a door leading to the other half of the firehouse building, where the township still stores its hazmat equipment. The door to that area is permanently locked, but the area currently occupied by hazmat equipment may one day offer more possibilities for the Arts Council, which could use the natural light provided by the bay doors for an “open studio” area and more space for classes. But that possibility lies in the distant future.
With the opening of the new building, the arts council’s director, Eduardo Garcia, believes the community will benefit in many ways from its presence — both culturally and economically. “Any time that you have a building like this, it is an improvement in any community,” he said.
Even though the building lies just beyond the boundaries of the redevelopment area, its location down the street from the train station — where officials have envisioned an amphitheater in the future — and its proximity to the former Acme shopping plaza can help the area. A tenant looking to occupy the old Acme site “may say, ‘Wow, this will mean hundreds of people will be coming through here,’” said Garcia.
“It improves the quality of life,” he added. “I can almost guarantee the realtors will be talking about having an arts center in West Windsor.”
Activities like the arts council’s Dining for the Arts event, which promotes both local restaurants and the arts programs, also bring people to local restaurants. People might also think about coming to West Windsor to eat before coming to an event at the Arts Council building.
And if that amphitheater does ever come to fruition in the train station area, “it would be silly for them to have an amphitheater a block away and not ask us to do something with it” in terms of managing some events there, said Garcia.
In addition, Garcia hopes to establish office hours in the welcome area, and he’s aiming for Wednesday through Saturdays from noon to six — and that is in addition to the classes and other programs that will be held at the building. “We’re trying to make a commitment to regular office hours,” he said.
Complete with WiFi access, the welcome center will be open during that time, and can be used by students for studying after school. Garcia said he hopes the space will “be conducive to high school students to come after school so they can study, have a few sodas.”
Arts Council officials say they are open to renting the arts center space to outside organizations for parties and functions based on the arts council’s own schedule. The Arts Council has already received many inquiries about rentals, but a policy and pricing is still being drafted, according to officials.
At the Arts Council of Princeton, rates for renting the facility vary. For members or community partners, rates range from $65 per hour to $285 per hour, based on the room that is rented. For nonprofits or local community organizations, rates range from $45 to $200 per hour, based on the room rented.
