Middlesex County Magnet Schools to Create Lights Towers for Carteret Arts District
Three towers are being engineered, drafted and welded
by students from throughout the county
CARTERET, NJ – The Borough is helping Middlesex County Magnet Schools live up to its motto, “College Ready, Career Ready, Life Ready,” with a hands-on multi-faceted project that will benefit residents for years to come.
Engineering, computer-aided design and welding students are partnering with the Borough to create two obelisk light towers at the entrances of the Arts District near URSB Carteret Performing Arts & Events Center, Mayor Daniel J. Reiman announced. On Feb. 27, Mayor Reiman met with Magnet School students and teachers at the arts center.
“It was great to meet with the students and teachers from the schools as they toured the CPAC and reviewed plans for the growing downtown arts district,” the Mayor said. “The students showcased their scale models of decorative light towers.”
The light towers will be placed on each corner of Washington Avenue and High Street, Mayor Reiman said.
While ornamental, the towers will stand as a symbol of the students’ hard work and perseverance, Middlesex County Commissioner Director Ronald G. Rios added.
“Not only do students at the Middlesex County Magnet Schools learn vital skills in their chosen fields of study while in the classroom, but through projects like this, these students also learn the value of using those skills and talents to give back to their community,” Commissioner Director Rios said. “As a Carteret resident myself, I would like to thank these students for helping to beautify the streets of our borough.”
The light towers are in production in the welding classes of Glen Foli and the architectural design classes of Frank Minnella at the Magnet School in Piscataway.
The project follows a Sept. 11 Memorial that welding students created for the Borough several years ago, Foli said.
“Architectural design will be helping us create the blueprints for the Borough engineers to review, and my class will be fabricating the pieces and assembling them,” he said. “This project will have a huge impact on my students. Not only will they learn the basic concepts of welding and fabrication, but they also will be able to appreciate their work years to come alongside the residents of Carteret.
“Behind the project, the students and instructors came together and collaborated to design the light towers,” Foli continued. “Designing the towers was a lengthy thought-out process between our two career majors.”
Welding student Liam Hoag, a senior from Sayreville, said that while working on the light towers, he learned how to construct an obelisk from scratch designed to Mayor Reiman’s wishes.
He said he expects this experience to help him greatly after graduation, having enlisted in the U.S. Naval Construction Battalion, aka the Seabees.
“It’s a great experience and a great introduction for me and all my classmates on how welding and fabrication jobs work out,” Hoag said. “The Performing Arts Center is beautiful. It looks like a luxury music center, and even the streets outside of the building have music notes on them. I hope that the residents of Carteret and anyone who visits the arts center will be inspired and have their minds open to the arts and any performances that they are going to experience. I hope that this installation does that for them and the town.”
Foli said he expected the light towers to be installed in the fall.
Updates about the project will be available at Carteret.net or by following @MyCarteret on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
