Town of Princeton Issues Fine for Dinky Canopy Demolition

Workers clear debris from the old Dinky station the day after the canopy collapsed.
Workers clear debris from the old Dinky station the day after the canopy collapsed.

A $2,000 fine has been issued by the town of Princeton to the Princeton University arts and transit project for the demolition last week of the historic Dinky train station canopy without a permit.

The demolition of the canopy was part of the approved site-plan for the project, but the proper demolition permit was never applied for before the canopy came down last Thursday.

The project is being managed by Turner Construction. The fine has been issued to the company, officials said. A town official said construction workers were working nearby and had done some preparation for the demolition of the canopy on Thursday before the canopy collapsed. But the workers weren’t actually doing the demolition when the structure came down just before 4:30 p.m. No one was injured in the accident.

The site was cleaned up within about a day. Most of the materials from the site are being recycled and very little of the demolition debris has been sent to a landfill, a school spokesman said. The bulk of the canopy is wood that has been sent to a recycling facility.

At a Princeton council meeting tonight, Councilwoman Jenny Crumiller asked Princeton University officials whether the school would be investigating the accident.

Kristin Appelget, director of community and regional affairs for Princeton University, said the school is looking into what happened.

“I think we should treat that accident as if someone was killed,” Crumiller said. “From our standpoint we need to do an investigation into what happened and what permits were issued. There was a mistake somewhere as important to find out.”

Business Administrator Robert Bruschi said the event was “an anomaly” and that ordinarily the school works very closely with the town.

5 Comments

  1. hahaha, $2,000, huh? That’s just one really good lunch at Princeton U. I don’t see them doing anything differently based on that.

  2. Petty cash for this project … I’m guessing there’s plenty in the contingency fund for mishaps like this.

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