Cap Construction Update

Heading down Prospect Street toward Cap doesn't feel very different.  Neither does crossing across the front lawn.  Everything seems to be in order and Cap looks just like it always has (with the exception of the recliner on the front lawn).

But heading around the back is a different story.  As you stroll down Roper Lane an impressive steel structure comes into view.

A lot has been happening since the students left for summer and the general cheer from Reunions and graduation has died down.  The construction crew has been working hard and making huge strides toward the completion of Cap's addition and renovation.

Although Cap may look like a mess now, the crew is on a tight schedule to complete all of the renovations inside in just three months.  The kitchen is completely gone and a brand new kitchen and servery must be finished before the students return on September 1st.

The old club is barely recognizable under all the dust as Cap is installing a new geothermal heating and cooling system which requires new piping to be installed throughout the old building as well as in the addition.  With the environmental crisis happening in the Gulf right now, people are much more aware of how they use oil.  The new system will make Cap more "green" by eliminating the use of fossil fuels.

The new system will be quiet, durable and cost effective.  All Cap members will be happy and warm in the winter and cool and dry in the summer.  This new system will provide the entire building with air conditioning, making Cap the perfect place for a reception if you're planning a wedding next summer!

We really expect the new dinning hall and tap room to make a wonderful addition to our beloved Cap.  The steel structure that many members were awed by during Reunions has a nearly completed roof.  The renovated tap room is also well underway.  Things are really coming along in the construction and we're actually starting to see what a wonderful project this is turning out to be!

Cap Hosts More than 500 at Reunions

Cap broke a record at Reunions this year, hosting more than 500 Cap members, family, and friends at our post-P-rade Open House.  The crowds packed the clubhouse and an enormous tent was set up on the front lawn for Reunions and Graduation. 

Everyone was awed by the progress on our construction.  Cap members viewed the newly-erected steel framing from the sunporch (now converted to a temporary taproom), and from the second floor deck.

This was the last hurrah for Cap-as-we-know-it.  When students return on September 1st there will be an all-new servery and a renovated "old" dining room.  The new wing is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year.

Reunions 2010 - A Chance Encounter

 Another year and another chapter in the remarkable continuum that is Princeton and the Cap and Gown community that is within the greater Princeton community.

I was on the back porch at Cap following the P-Rade, when Dennis Normile, our club steward, came bursting out and said that one of our Cap members from the Old Guard had stopped by.  I went directly to the crowded front hall and found Ollie Langenberg '35.  He had hired a car to drive him to the club, and had a young step son-in-law at his side, and was truly delighted to be back at Cap for a visit. 

With the tumult of a packed clubhouse swirling around us, our conversation was challenging but I had time to hear some of Ollie's stories from an earlier era at Cap.  He wondered if the "Thursday Club" still existed.  I mentioned the "21 Club" but he dismissed that.  He then got a devilish grin and said it had to do with prohibition and, as I understood it, there was a group that made the illegal hooch for use over the weekend starting on Thursday at lunch time. And so the beat goes on.

I have thought since of the 27 year difference in age. From 1935 to 1962 is a big gap. It is the same as from 1962 to 1989, about the first year I became
involved as Grad Board Chair. And those "kids" seemed so young then. Should I make it to my 75th Reunion, I hope one of the kids from the Class
of 1989 is around to listen patiently to some of my old recollections - under the 1962 Skylight in the new stairwell that joins the old and new
buildings. In 27 years there will not be old and new buildings but only one building, completely assimilated as a part of the very best club on Prospect Street thanks to a lot of effort from a lot of people with foresight.

When I returned to the porch and a conversation with Denny Keller '63, we noted Ollie Langenberg is listed as a contributor to the campaign from 1935. Now that Bill Selden '34 has died, that makes Ollie Langenberg our oldest contributor.

Cheers to all,   

Michael Mathews '62