Photos courtesy of Paul R.
Pictures just in of the current state of the former Princeton Junction store. Paul stopped by just at the right time to get some shots of the store hollowed out. These shots give us a fantastic look at the original pitched-roof building...
After years of speculation as to the fate of this shopping center and the Acme, plans have finally been revealed of the finished product. The former Acme will be divided up into smaller retail spaces but will retain much of it's current characteristics. The mansard roof will be getting dressed up but will surprisingly remain in place. The pitched-roof along the back will also remain visible in the renovated structure. What's seems quite odd is that store fronts will be facing out of the back of the building. Certainly will be a challenge bringing foot traffic around to the other side. Perhaps the spaces in back will be used for doctors offices and such. You can see a rendition of the finished shopping center at Cyzner Properties. Additionally renderings, which include the back, can be seen here.
And now for an update to the original Princeton Junction post. Back when the store first went up on the blog, I was not aware of the Historic Aerial website which lets us travel back to the past to see how a particular store evolved over the years. Unfortunately for me, Blogger has been evolving over the years and has made it extremely difficult to make significant updates to older posts. For that reason, I am including the satellite images for Princeton Junction in this post.
These images offer an accurate time frame of when the pitched-roof model was expanded. I had reported in the original post that the expansion happened during the 80's remodel. It did not. You'll see in the 1979 image down below that the expansion was in it's final stages. To view the original post from 2009 please click here.
2007
2002
1986
This place was jumpin' back in '86. This shot may have been taken after the 80's remodel was completed.
1979
You can see in the image above that the parking lot had yet to be paved along the newly added section. Construction vehicles appear to be in the parking lot to the left of the store. They've been cropped out of the image above.
1972
Acme stood alone in 1972, paired up with a massive parking lot.
1969
I don't have an exact opening date for the store. It may not have been open as of this shot in 1969. It's been reported that the store lasted 39 years.
1963
Is it quaint or cheap that the Acme's mansard roof is being integrated into the new facade? Looks like there will be some kind of interior corridor running through the old Acme (parallel to the front of the building) and maybe that will make those rear units more appealing? If I recall from the original post on this store, the back of the property was very wet and swampy so it'll be interesting to see what- if anything- is done to rectify that or make it less obvious.
ReplyDeleteI call this type of store (as it looked before it closed) a Shaun Cassidy Acme. The place started out as a pitched-roof store designed in the early 60's, but was upgraded in the mid 70's. Shaun Cassidy was a 70's singer known for his tributes to the 60's... which must have seemed like ancient times. LOL.
ReplyDeleteCouldn't get more pics as the construction crew was actively working at the time. They're expanding the back lot area and presumably are going to make it presentable. I'm also guessing that corridor will just be a service/maintenance corridor.
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