Trinity Hall has been at its Fort Monmouth location since 2015. Laura D.C. Kolnoski
By Laura D.C. Kolnoski
TINTON FALLS – The borough planning board voted unanimously April 24 to approve two additions to Trinity Hall, the all-girls Catholic high school at Hope and Corregidor roads on former Fort Monmouth property. It is the school’s second expansion since opening in 2015 in the post’s former Child Development Center.
Following guidelines set forth by the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority (FMERA), work is due to commence by Oct. 15, 2024, and completed by Oct. 15, 2025. Plans call for the construction of an 11,600-square-foot two-story academic wing to include performing arts space, a visual arts room, three classrooms, a college counseling suite, meeting space, storage and small group gathering spaces.
The Commons area will be expanded by 5,700 square feet to better accommodate assemblies, school-wide Masses and other events. FMERA approved Trinity Hall’s plans in February.
The school owns the property, but FMERA remains involved administratively.
“As per statute, all new projects are subject to a Redevelopment Agreement with FMERA,” Sarah Giberson, FMERA director of Real Estate Development, told The Two River Times, adding that until FMERA dissolves when its mission is complete, all fort property remains subject to FMERA’s rules, reuse plan and Mandatory Conceptual Review process.
FMERA documents indicate that the school’s anticipated capital investment in the expansion is approximately $10 million. Head of School Theresa Kiernan, who attended the planning board meeting last week, declined to answer whether or how much funding has been secured to date. Prior to the start of construction on the school’s first addition undertaken in 2017, a fundraising gala was held at Cipriani Wall Street, attended by 600 guests.
“Funding our capital project is done through the collective fundraising efforts of our board of trustees, faculty and school community,” Kiernan wrote in an email. Asked whether a construction firm has been engaged, Kiernan responded, “TBD.”
“It’s not an expansion of the school property,” Anthony J. Calvano of Collier Engineering told planning board members before the vote. “It’s about increasing the opportunity for students within the school space, which is at capacity with 336 students. The target is 340 students and 66 staff. There are 60 staff now.”
Calvano also discussed adding a loading zone that will be screened from the public road and two new identifying building signs in the same design and materials as the existing ones. Waivers for lighting and other design features were previously granted and new accommodations for emergency vehicles will be made.
School officials said there is currently no need for bicycle racks and storage, as many students come from outside the area. Using Hope Road, a busy thoroughfare with no sidewalks, is “not advisable.” Students from Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean counties attend Trinity Hall.
The school sits on 7.4 acres in the Charles Wood section of the fort adjacent to the 55-acre Commvault property. The county’s recreation center, another former fort facility, and Charles Wood Fire Station are directly across Corregidor Road. Across Hope Road is the Suneagles Golf Course, also formerly part of Fort Monmouth and now privately owned. Townhomes and affordable housing are being built on course property a distance away, meaning the school has no immediate residential neighbors.
No members of the public spoke on the expansion during the meeting, after which planning board attorney Dennis Collins said the matter could go before the borough council for final municipal approval in about two weeks.
The independent Trinity Hall opened in Middletown in 2012, purchased the circa 1996 Child Development Center in 2015, renovated the structure and opened its current campus to students for the 2015-’16 school year.
“We love Tinton Falls and the open arms in which we were received from Day One,” Kiernan said. “We are thrilled to have approval and to continue to grow our offerings for our students and continue to be good neighbors.”
The article originally appeared in the May 2 – 8, 2024 print edition of The Two River Times.
