The West Windsor Township Council has approved a formal lease agreement with the West Windsor Arts Council for use of the former Princeton Junction firehouse, paving the way for a grand opening at the facility next month.
Despite West Windsor Arts Council members’ original feelings that they were being left out and misunderstood when it came to negotiating the terms of the lease agreement, the arts group and Township Council reached a compromise on the terms of the lease at a meeting last month.
The formal lease itself was approved during the council’s meeting on August 2. Under the 10-year agreement, the Arts Council will pay $250 a month in rent for the first two years.
Throughout the process, members of the Township Council wanted to be careful in adding any burden to the budgeting process during the rough economy. Prior to the consensus reached on the terms in July, though, Arts Council members were worried that a proposed monthly rent of $500 would stymie progress and delay the grand opening of the new facility, which is scheduled for late September.
Officials from the Arts Council told township officials that as partners, the board of the arts council accepted managing the facility for the community and is prepared to assume the responsibility of finding operational funds that will move the arts council from operating costs of about $60,000 a year up to 2009 to $311,000 in 2012.
The original $500 monthly rent would have undermined the art council’s ability to fund programming at the new facility, they said. According to Arts Council officials, the organization has already contributed $300,000 to the renovation of the building itself — a building it does not own — as well as years of work from its volunteers, and would have been using the money it has raised to establish its programming.
The council’s current operating budget is only $60,000 and being forced to pay 10 percent of the organization’s operating budget within the first year for rent ($500 for 12 months) would have hurt their efforts. By the time the renovation of the building is done, the arts council will have contributed $300,000 of capital, with West Windsor contributing about $800,000.
The Township Council came up with the compromise, and under the new terms, the 10-year agreement would begin January 1. For the first two years, the Arts Council will pay $250. In the third year and successive years, the rent will be $500 and increase by 10 percent each year. So, in the fourth year, the arts council will pay $550 a month and so on.
The building itself has been a staple of the community since it was built in 1931. It served as a hub for community events, like roast beef dinners, carnivals, a reception area for weddings, and the venue for teen discos in the 1970s, which is why the arts council wants to preserve as much of the building’s history as possible, including the Princeton Junction Firehouse signage on the outside of the building.
Under an agreement between the township and the fire company, the township built a new fire house for the company, which in turn, donated the old building to the township under the condition that it keep the fire house appearance with the design.
Work began in December to transform the 75-year-old former firehouse.
