Trenton Hall and Trenton Hall Annex

MCCC’s Capital Idea

On Jun 29, 2017

As Mercer County Community College (MCCC) celebrates its 50^th anniversary and its Trenton roots, the college has demonstrated its ongoing commitment to the city and to students from the greater Trenton area by investing more than $5.6 million at its downtown Trenton James Kerney Campus.

In addition to interior improvements to James Kerney Hall (the main campus building on North Broad Street), projects included the renovation and adaptive reuse of Trenton Hall and the recently completed, adjacent Trenton Hall Annex. This major investment, in addition to other projects that are expanding and transforming MCCC’s North Broad Street location, are helping to bring life back to an underserved and underutilized historic neighborhood.

Trenton Hall re-uses a historic building and adds art and fashion design programs to the campus as well as classrooms for computer instruction and a multi-use space on the fourth floor. The building enlivens the streetscape with ever-changing storefront art and fashion presentations by MCCC’s talented students.

A particularly innovative and sustainable project behind the Annex includes an open air courtyard that utilizes natural stormwater to irrigate the drought-tolerant and native plants growing there, while also dramatically reducing flow to the city’s stormwater system. The courtyard provides a relaxing common space for students, faculty and staff and also serves as a compact campus green that is planned to connect additional college buildings along North Broad. Students in the college’s Landscape Design program were involved in planting this space and will help maintain it.

Additional MCCC plans for the North Broad Street neighborhood include establishing public/private partnerships with the City of Trenton, Mercer County and developers to revitalize other sites and buildings in the area for academic, arts, performance and retail spaces, and sponsoring a bike-share program to help connect the campus with the train station, downtown cultural and business sites and new development. As these projects are realized, the area is increasingly enlivened by the coming and going of students, faculty and staff.

ARCHITECT
Clarke Caton Hintz
Trenton

BUILDER
Dandrea Construction Co.
West Berlin

NOMINATOR
George D. Sowa
Chief Executive Officer
Greater Trenton

 

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