College Receives $3 Million in State Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program Funding for New Campus in Upper Darby
(Delaware and Chester Counties, PA • October 27, 2022)—Delaware County Community College will receive a $3 million Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program grant from the state to support the construction of a workforce and skilled trades training center within the College’s new state-of-the-art Southeast Campus at the former Archbishop Prendergast High School, near Lansdowne Avenue and Garrett Road in Upper Darby Township. The new funding brings to $8.5 million the total amount the College has received in Pennsylvania Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program funding for its community-centered, construction/redevelopment project.
“This new state funding commitment will help the College address a pressing, high-priority need in the region for skilled workers in the careers of advanced manufacturing and the skilled trades,” said Delaware County Community President Dr. L. Joy Gates Black. “We are grateful to our federal, state and local legislators, as well as to community residents and business and industry leaders for helping us obtain this new financing, which brings our community-centered, construction and redevelopment initiative a step closer to fruition.”
This latest state funding will be used to establish a workforce-focused campus to provide a region-tailored education and training ecosystem. The College plans to transform the former Archbishop Prendergast High School by replacing obsolete buildings and renovating the main building. An important part of the construction will include a new annex building that will house workforce and skilled trade training facilities.
Overall, the College plans to transform a 7.5-acre portion of the approximately 30-acre property into a new, full-service campus that will feature educational and training programs in high-priority occupations, such as early childhood education, culinary arts, health care, advanced manufacturing, bio-medical technology, skilled trades and other emerging career fields. The new campus will include science labs, a gymnasium, a cafeteria, and a courtyard with outdoor seating.
The extensive construction project also will include an innovative Early Childhood Learning Center, operated by the YMCA of Eastern Delaware County, which will serve as both a learning laboratory for students in the College’s early childhood education program and a much-needed childcare facility for students and residents. The new campus also will include a Center for Workforce Development and Community Success which will serve as a center of innovation dedicated to workforce training leading to associate degrees and short-term certificates in high-priority occupations such as advanced manufacturing, electro-mechanical, machine tool and computer numeric control technologies. In addition to workforce training, the Center for Workforce Development and Community Success will provide community services and support which will include a computer laboratory, meeting spaces, community education programs, and a broad array of resources available to the surrounding community.
“This is about changing the lives of our students, our residents and the communities served by the College,” said Dr. Gates Black, adding that the College will combine the new state funding with resources already raised since the College purchased the Archbishop Prendergast property, and will continue its fundraising efforts.
