By KENNY WALTER
Staff Writer
FORT MONMOUTH — Trinity Hall, an all-girls high school currently located in Middletown, has officially closed on a property in the Tinton Falls section of Fort Monmouth.
Officials from the school closed on a Hope Road property on March 18, just a few months after agreeing to purchase the former Child Development Center building from the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority (FMERA).
“After three years of tremendous growth, Trinity Hall is looking forward to laying down permanent roots at the former fort,” Trinity Hall Head of School Mary Sciarrillo said in a press release posted on the FMERA website. “We are ready to bring community service projects and employment opportunities to this revitalized area.
“We will be more than good neighbors — we will be good partners.”
The school, a not-for-profit that follows the Catholic tradition, is the only all-girls independent high school in Monmouth and Ocean counties. It executed a contract with FMERA to purchase the approximately 20,000-square-foot structure and 7.4-acre property on Nov. 23.
FMERA, at its Oct. 21 meeting, accepted the school’s $2 million bid for the former childcare facility.
Out of three bids submitted, Trinity Hall was the highest. The other bids came from the Yeshiva School and CommVault, a computer software company that already owns a 55-acre parcel at the Fort Monmouth.
Trinity Hall plans to move to the building for the start of the 2016-17 school year, which will coincide with the final year of the school’s first graduating class. Work has already begun to convert the former childcare facility into a modern educational setting for the high school students.
“By finding a home in Tinton Falls, Trinity Hall will be an integral part of the revitalized Fort Monmouth community,” said FMERA Executive Director Bruce Steadman.
“Bringing Trinity Hall to Fort Monmouth will result in the creation of an anticipated 100 new jobs as the school looks to continue its growth. We are excited to welcome this esteemed institution to the Fort.”
The Tinton Falls School District originally intended to purchase the 7.4-acre property to build a new school, but withdrew its interest in 2014.
According to the agreement, the school will incorporate its current 22 full-time positions to its new location and will create an additional 100 full-time positions at the school within 48 months of closing on the property or will end up paying a penalty of $1,500 per job, with a cap of $183,000.
Trinity Hall officials previously sought to expand their campus on Chapel Hill Road in Middletown, but the plan was surrounded by controversy with neighbors fighting in courts and in front of the Middletown Planning Board to prevent the construction.
For more information visit, www.trinityhallnj.org.
