New Trenton High will feature clock tower, Tornado sculpture
TRENTON » The historic Trenton Central High School clock tower is gone.
But when the new school is erected, a modern substitute will fill its void.
At the Trenton school board meeting on Tuesday night, leaders from the New Jersey Schools Development Authority (SDA), which is overseeing the $130 million construction project, unveiled new design elements.
“Through some discussion, there was a decision made to incorporate a clock element that’s reminiscent of the old tower,” said Richard Sherman, who is head of SDA’s design group. “This is actually going to be an LED display, so although it can be displayed as a clock, we have the ability to do other things with that.”
The clock will sit high above the school’s main entrance and directly underneath it, two banners will be hung to highlight different activities and school events, Sherman said. The architect said the banners will rotate throughout the school year.
Initially, the entrance of the school was expected to have tornado imagery to pay tribute to the school’s logo.
The tornado presence, however, will be moved to the main public entrance for the auxiliary and main gyms.
In the lobby, a large tornado sculpture will be hung from the ceiling.
“When we put the project out, we had an allowance for the development of a sculptural element to hang in this lobby,” Sherman explained.
The new school will also contain an outdoor amphitheater, a relics garden with salvaged artifacts from the 1932 school, and an outdoor dining courtyard.
“I think the project is going along well,” SDA CEO Charles McKenna said. “We’re on time, on budget and the pool is still there.”
The design-build contract was awarded to Terminal Construction Company.
McKenna said the company is using a fast-track construction process and the erection of the steel frame was already completed this month.
“If anyone goes by the building now, the bones of the building are up,” the SDA head said. “Now, what is going to happen is they’re going to enclose the bones of the building with the brick work. We expect substantial completion by June 2019 and that by the fall, September 2019, the school will be occupied.”
There is some optimism that the school might be completed ahead of schedule.
“We hope to be able to do a little better than that on the time frame,” McKenna said. “We’re in negotiations with the contractor to see if we can move that up a little bit.”