WILMINGTON — The Wilmington College entrance on College Street is about to get a fresh look designed “to better demarcate the college’s main entrance and give the area an aesthetic shot in the arm.”
The News Journal reported last December that “the gateway will feature both substantive and complementary elements on both corners of College Street where East Main Street transitions into Fife Avenue. The eastern corner will host a brick sign emblazoned with the College seal and ‘Wilmington College, Founded by the Religious Society of Friends 1870’.”
On the western side, a tall monolith will rise from a surface of brick pavers, from which one will also see a brick platform with a large, two-sided, electronic message screen that will be visible to both east and westbound traffic.
Behind both corner fixtures will be brick columns attached by black, wrought iron fencing in a concrete base at ground level. The seven columns represent Wilmington College’s core values: community, diversity, excellence, integrity, peace/social justice, respect for all persons, and service/civic engagement.
Installation of special landscaping will follow the gateway construction.
College officials worked with the architects in designing a gateway that both reflects the college’s 150 years of history and its modern renaissance. Elements from WC’s two newest facilities, the Center for Sport Sciences and the Center for the Sciences & Agriculture, can be seen in the gateway design.
