Construction is scheduled to begin on Wilmington University’s new Concord Pike campus.
The New Castle County Council earlier this year approved the campus plan for the private institution.
The 41-acre site is at the intersection of Concord Pike (Route 202) and Beaver Valley Road.
The university’s plan calls for a three-story classroom and student center building on the parcel, with an adjoining tree-lined parking lot. It also accounts for the possibility of adding two more buildings, depending on demand. The university paid $11 million for the property.
In total, the campus could accommodate 250 employees and 1,000 students.
The campus generated opposition last year from the Save the Valley group that is best known for its efforts to stop a home development in a nearby township in Pennsylvania.
Landscape architects have designed the campus around an existing wooded area and pond. The university will preserve a historic schoolhouse and barn on the property and will incorporate refreshed walking trails and sustainable development practices into the plan.
The red brick, stone and glass construction of the proposed buildings is intended to reflect the character of the surrounding Brandywine Valley as well as the university’s New Castle and Dover campuses. Homsey Architects, contributed designs to both of those sites, as well as to the Delaware Art Museum and the renovation of Wilmington’s Queen Theater.
Bushes, trees and fencing will create a 100-foot setback between the campus and the adjacent roads. The primary entrance will be located on Beaver Valley Road, with a secondary entrance at the shopping center on Rocky Run Parkway. No traffic will enter from or exit to Concord Pike, a Wilmington University release stated.
Forty-two percent of the university’s enrollment is made up of New Castle County residents. Demand for more nearby class locations has outpaced the supply of classrooms and computer labs offered by the space the school rents at the Concord Plaza office park on Silverside Road.
The university’s New Castle location will remain its main campus and house most of its administrative offices.
The university has grown rapidly in recent years and now draws students from Delaware and nearby areas of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland. Total full and part-time enrollment totals about 21,000.
