A good-sized crowd of well-wishers attended the dedication of the O.G. Sanford Bell Tower and groundbreaking for the $700,000 Hoffman Hall expansion at North Central Missouri College, Trenton.
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A good-sized crowd of well-wishers attended the dedication of the O.G. Sanford Bell Tower and groundbreaking for the $700,000 Hoffman Hall expansion at North Central Missouri College, Trenton.
The bell tower’s clock works and carillon chimes were restored with a $16,500 donation from Peter Trombley and family, owners of Trenton Coca-Cola Bottling Company. Trombley requested that the tower be named in honor of O.G. Sanford, the college’s first president.
Sanford, who was superintendent of Trenton schools in the early 1900s, sold the idea of a local community college by showing the number of local students who were attending colleges and universities farther away, pointing out that a local college could save families hundreds of dollars a year. (In the 1920s, tuition, room and board at the University of Missouri was $600 a year.) The upcoming expansion of Hoffman Hall will provide more space for science and technology instruction and nearly triple the size of the current classroom structure.
Jack Derry, NCMC development director and construction manager for the Hoffman Hall project, said bids will be sought soon for construction of the footing, basement and part of the wiring and plumbing. Most of the framing and finishing will be completed by students in the Construction Technology program at NCMC, which is directed by Don Sager. The project is expected to take one and a half years to complete.
Ellison-Auxier Architects of St. Joseph designed the facility.
NCMC Board of Trustee members, Foundation officers, administrators, faculty, staff and students participated in the events, which were part of the college’s 75th anniversary celebration. Shown at the groundbreaking are (seated) Mrs. and Mr. Frank Hoffman, Foundation Board member and past Trustees president; (front row) Diane Raynes, Trustees VP; Dr. Albert Cross, Foundation Board president; Doug Dible, Trustees president; Missouri 3rd District Rep. David Klindt; Nan Carter, Foundation Board member; Tom Brown, professor emeritus and author; Betty Frances Hall, Trustee; Dr. Walter Nolte, NCMC president; (back row) Stan Lowrey, Trustee; Mark Whiteaker, Trustees member; Don Dalrymple, science faculty member; E.D. Geyer, dean emeritus.