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Trenton Central High School on Chambers Street as seen on Oct. 14, 2014

TRENTON - The decrepit 82-year-old building on Chambers Street that has been a cause of concern and outrage for students, parents, teachers and administrators at Trenton Central High School will be replaced with a completely new school.

A school board voted Tuesday to move ahead with a plan to build a new school in place of the 82-year-old building, instead of preserving a portion of the iconic building and building new structures around it.

The board’s vote was unanimous in favor of demolition of and full replacement of the school.

“This is about what our students deserve, need and have long waited for,” said Superintendent Francisco Duran.

The state Schools Development Authority, which will fund the $130 million project, also surprised board members and members of the public by announcing that if the board chose to demolish the school, including the pool in the building, the state could fund the construction of a new pool in the new building, something the state initially said it could not do.

"Because we are taking a pool away from you we can give you a pool back," SDA CEO Charles McKenna said to loud cheers from the audience. McKenna said the pool will be funded through the original project budget.

The board was faced with two options – to demolish the school and replace it, or attempt to preserve iconic portions of the building and build around it. An issue was raised with the latter option after structural engineers hired by the SDA determined it would be extremely difficult to preserve the specific portions of the building because of the state of decay of the building and the questionable structural integrity that that portion could stand on its own.

A site concept plan prepared by the SDA showing its design concept plan for the new Trenton Central High School

The SDA gave a lengthy presentation to the board about the structural issues and the different options before they were asked to vote on one of the two.

The members of the public who came out to speak about the project were mostly in support of replacing the school with teachers, parents and students speaking out.

Junior Tyshona Robinson said her memories of the high school are those of “disgust and disappointment” because of the state of the building. Robinson said it is not things like the iconic architecture and clock tower that she and her peers will remember about the school..

“Those things to do not represent what the high school experience is or was about,” she said.

TCHS principal Hope Grant and members of the school leadership team, representing parents and teachers at the school, echoed Robinson’s feelings.

“We need to take this opportunity and run with it and not look back,” Grant said.

A few preservationists did join the conversation at the meeting, raising concern about how a new building might lower property values or upset neighbors who bought their homes with the expectation that the building would stay the way it was.

“They are not going to be able to build a building as majestic as this,” said Nancy Faris, who lives nearby.

“Neighbors paid money for these houses,” Faris said. “They were, in essence, promised that the building would be there at least. Now it feels as if the rug has been pulled out from under them.”

Faris asked for the state to attempt to preserve the façade of the building and have another engineer examine the building.

Ultimately, Faris and preservationists lost out to a board that wanted to see the building replaced entirely. One board member Jane Rosenbuam, who admittedly was in favor of the idea of trying to preserve part of the building, warned that if the district did not keep up with maintenance, the new building could fall into the same state of disrepair as the current high school.

Jenna Pizzi may be reached at jpizzi@njtimes.com. Follow her on Twitter @JennaPizzi. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.