The Final Word
by Diane Lowrey, editor
Taking advantage of the wonderful weather we’ve been able to experience the past several days, I recently took a drive around Trenton just to see what was going on.
And boy did I get an eyeful.
This website brought to you in part by the following sponsor:
The most obvious activity is going on along Iowa Boulevard, which is the location of the new Wright Memorial Hospital and medical office building. it seems like it was just a few months ago ground was being broken for new construction of those facilities and now, as you drive by, the outside of the main building is nearly complete and looks to be on schedule for opening next spring. Wright Memorial Hospital has done a lot over the past several years to improve its medical offerings in a 1950s buildings and the time has now come for those medical updates to be included in a start-of-the-art facility that will much better serve the residents of this area. Having spent a week there a little over a year ago, I know the importance of having a hospital near to take care of your medical needs and I still have a hard time fathoming how well WMH personnel perform their duties in the current facilties. The new hospital will allow them to provide even better medical attention to its patients and I am so proud of the foresight Dr. J.B. Wright and the Wright Trust to make sure the area continues to have good medical services available.
And of course, right down the road is the North Central Missouri College Barton Farm Campus, on which ground is being broken today. Plans call for the construction of facilities that will provide classroom space and learning labs for not only students involved in agriculture, but those who want to receive training in such areas as wind technology and other green-related jobs. Bids are currently being obtained to construct the first two structures on the site – resource and plant science buildings – along with a parking lot and other land improvements. A structure for animal science as well as a visitor’s center are in the future plans for the farm, which was given to NCMC through a generation donation by the Arthur and Elizabeth Barton family.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the wonderful assistance both the hospital and college has received from local entities, including the city of Trenton, the Grundy County Commission, the Trenton Township Board and the Missouri Department of Transportation. Without their assistance, developing good access to these areas would have taken much longer and it was a coalition of these groups that worked together to get the new access road onto Iowa Boulevard from Highway 65, making it easier for those headed to either place to get to their destinations.
If you haven’t been out that way, I would suggest you do so and see for yourself exactly what is going on in that area. It’s a great picture of the progress that is taking place in this community.