Ocean County Freeholders Want To Build A $26.7 Million Performing Arts High School

TOMS RIVER - A new $26.7 million Ocean County Performing Arts High School will be built by 2019, with the help of state and county funds and the Grunin Foundation, Freeholder Director Joseph H. Vicari said at a recent board meeting.

The new 53,000-square-foot school will be built on the Ocean County College campus in Toms River. It will be administered by the Ocean County Vocational School system, according to a report in app.com.

“We will be getting $10.6 million from the state of New Jersey, that leaves $16 million left," Freeholder John C. Bartlett Jr. said.

Of that amount, Ocean County taxpayers will pay for the first $8 million. The Grunin Foundation will pick up the second $8 million. The Ocean County College Board of Trustees will kick in $2 million to cover any interest payments or "other incidentals" that come up during the project, Bartlett said.

Students who attend the school will be eligible to take the required course work necessary to graduate from high school, with both a diploma and an associate degree from the county college, Vicari said.

The county currently leases space from the Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in historic Hangar One, but plans to discontinue the lease.

“It is our audacious hope and expectation that Ocean County in general and Toms River in particular, become a major cultural hub in New Jersey with this cutting edge performing arts high school adjoining the magnificent 450-seat theater on the beautiful Ocean County (College) campus," said Jay Grunin, who attended the board meeting.

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Image: Ocean County College