Historic Rutgers University Welcomes New Green Campus
Rutgers University is the eighth-oldest college in the United States, and one of only nine to be founded before the American Revolution. Located on the banks of the Raritan River in New Brunswick, NJ, it famously hosted the first intercollegiate football game ever played in 1869. Since its establishment, the Old Queen’s campus (as it’s historically known) has grown into a sprawling landscape peppered with nineteenth and twentieth century buildings. Great for history buffs; not so great for energy efficiency. That’s why Rutgers is embarking on a journey to transform the campus.
The College Avenue Redevelopment Initiative, created by Rutgers University in partnership with New Brunswick Development Corporation (DEVCO), a non-profit urban real estate development organization, is set to transform almost ten acres of the university grounds. The Initiative encompasses two distinct locations for three new buildings, which include a new academic building and two new residential environments. The new Rutgers Academic Building for the School of Arts & Sciences will provide new classrooms, generous lecture halls, ancillary academic services, and faculty offices. The five-story Honors College Residence Hall will house 540 students as well as have seminar spaces and offices for the Honors College Dean and administrative faculty. The University Apartments will house 500 upperclassmen and will feature a tower and a generous courtyard.
The first piece of this expansive project was catalyzed in part by the actions of the New Brunswick Theological Seminary, a participating organization of the Rutgers community for over 200 years. In the heart of the New Brunswick campus, the seminary recently sold five acres of its own site, paving the way for the redevelopment of that land. The grounds are bordered by College Avenue and George Street between Seminary Place and Bishop Place.
The other significant portion of land being redeveloped is a parking lot at the corner of Easton Avenue and Hamilton Street, also well-known as the site of the “Grease Trucks.” The beloved food trucks are being relocated indoors to make space for the redevelopment project. (So don’t worry, you still have time to try one of their famous fat sandwiches!)