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Chamber of Commerce Ribbon-Cutting Set for Campus Gateway

Event Is Thursday at 5 P.M. Wilmington College's new Campus Gateway debuted this fall but will be formally christened as WC's front door Thursday (March 24) at 5 p.m. It's located at the northwest entrance to the campus at the intersection of College St. and Main St./Fife Ave. PICTURED: Wilmington College's new Campus Gateway welcomes visitors to the 151-year-old institution. The complex features elements that hearken the original Gateway constructed in 1919 and the College's current renaissance of new facilities constructed in recent years. The Clinton County/Wilmington Chamber of Commerce will host the ribbon-cutting ceremony. The campus community and the general public are invited. The structure was made possible from the generosity of alumni gifts in support of the project. The Campus Gateway replaces what for some 60 years was an understated entrance to the campus. Prior to the late 1950s, the Campus Gateway was about 100 feet down the road, where visitors could turn off Fife Ave. and drive directly into the heart of the campus on interior thoroughfares. While much of that original gateway remains — brick pillars and black wrought iron fencing — its history is celebrated as part of the new Gateway's design. Construction last summer required the removal of a manual coming events message board, a campus directional sign and a long brick wall designating Wilmington College. The new Gateway features both substantive and complementary elements on both corners of College St. where Main St. transitions into Fife Ave. The eastern corner hosts 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 highlighting the historic seal rises from a concrete and brick paver surface alongside a brick platform that houses a large, two-sided, electronic message screen visible to both east and westbound traffic. Behind both corner fixtures are brick columns attached by black metal fencing in a concrete base at ground level. The seven columns represent Wilmington College's seven core values: community, diversity, excellence, integrity, peace/social justice, respect for all persons, and service/civic engagement.