History at Hand in Princeton – Rehabilitation of Mountain Lakes Preserve dams and other structures historically used for ice making and transportation.
About this Session
The 78-acre Mountain Lakes Preserve in Princeton contains a lower earthen dam with stone/concrete spillway built in 1884, an upper stone/concrete dam built in 1902, an upper settling pond dam, stone arch bridge, culvert and stone walls. The dams were used to impound Stony Brook and create the Mountain Lakes. These structures were used for commercial ice production from 1884 to 1929. Designated as a historic site on the State and National Registers of Historic Places, the Princeton Ice Company is significant as a historic ice production, harvesting, and storage operation. These structures had deteriorated over time and fell into serious disrepair requiring remedial measures to avoid further deterioration and the possibility of a dam failure. FPA was retained by the Municipality of Princeton for rehabilitation of these structures. The educational objective for this presentation is to illustrate the challenges associated with historic preservation and rehabilitation of dams, bridges and walls within a historic district in accordance with the Secretary of the Interior Standards for Treatment of Historic Properties. The rehabilitation of these structures includes the rehabilitation of a historic stone arch bridge, presently under construction within the Mountain Lakes Preserve, which served as an access bridge for transporting the ice blocks to it’s customers, and for which the Municipality received a NJ Historic Trust Grant.
The rehabilitation of the structures is an excellent example of a project where historic preservation and conservation along with sound structural engineering principles can be integrated to greatly improve the safety, structural capacity and appearance of the historic structures. The dam project was awarded five (5) awards, including the 2013 Historic Preservation Award.
Presented by
