Elon has purchased a building in downtown Burlington, N.C., to support the expansion of community programs.
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Elon University has purchased a building in downtown Burlington, N.C., to support the expansion of community programs and partnerships that have helped hundreds of Alamance County residents and provided rich learning experiences for Elon students for many years.
The 1,700-square-foot building at 217 East Davis Street will provide office space for The Village Project, an outreach program of Elon’s School of Education that pairs Elon students studying to be teachers with young children (and their parents) from local communities to improve their reading skills.
For the past four years, The Village Project has taken place in the May Memorial Library directly across the street from the building Elon has purchased. The program will continue this fall with its reading program in the library along with a new initiative to assist students with science lessons. The science program will be located in the education facilities of the First Presbyterian Church at 508 West Davis Street in downtown Burlington.
The new facility will provide a nearby office and conference space for Associate Professor Jean Rattigan-Rohr, founder and director of The Village Project, to meet with parents and their children.
The building will also provide space for a community outreach office for Elon’s Kernodle Center for Service Learning and Community Engagement. The Kernodle Center facilitates service opportunities for Elon University students through partnerships with more than 80 of the county’s nonprofit and human service agencies. The Kernodle Center will staff regular office hours at the new downtown location.
In addition, the university will rotate displays of student, faculty and community art in the building.
“This purchase demonstrates Elon’s strong commitment to our larger Alamance County community by giving two high-impact programs a physical presence in downtown Burlington,” said Gerry Francis, executive vice president at Elon University. “By locating our students, faculty and staff close to most of our community partners and those we serve, we hope to continue the growth of these important programs.”
The building is the former office of Alamance Magazine and Alamance Woman magazines. Built in the 1950s, it will undergo minor renovations to create a conference room in addition to an existing reception area, office spaces, restrooms and storage areas.