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👷🏾♀️$56 million Kingswood Community Center breaks ground
For nearly 70 years, Kingswood Community Center has been at the heart of its community in Northeast Wilmington, a resource for countless children who learned and played and grew up within its walls. Begun in 1946 at Kingswood United Methodist Church, the community center expanded in 1956 to its current 17,000-square-feet home at 2300 Bowers St.
As News Journal reporter Amanda Fries noted in a 2022 story, the Kingswood Community Center "withstood riots that tore apart the city and prompted the U.S. National Guard to occupy Delaware's largest city for nine months... yet, the community center survived. Through hurricanes and other storms that have ravaged the community, it stood."
More: How $10 million will help Wilmington's Riverside take the next step in redevelopment
Now it will expand.
Soon a new, and much larger chapter will begin. Community members turned out in force for the groundbreaking of a new $56 million, nearly 70,000 square-foot building behind Kingswood's current location. The groundbreaking ceremony took place on August 8.
The new center will double the childcare capacity from 122 to 250 children, offer infant care, programming for older adults, a gymnasium with an indoor basketball court, medical and health education and services, and space for community gatherings, according to builder EDiS.
The new site will allow for a much-expanded Early Learning Academy, said Kingswood Executive Director and WRK Group CEO, Logan Herring, in a conversation with County Executive Matthew Meyer before the ceremony.
"We've done miraculous work at Kingswood. Our class at Pre-K has been 100% kindergarten-ready," said Herring, who notes that instructors are being Montessori-trained.
"So we'll be able to triple the size of the graduating class to serve more children, but also be able to cater their educational experience to every single child," he said. Herring called Kingswood the foundation for everything the nonprofit WRK Group does, from the teen activities at The Warehouse community center to new housing development by REACH Riverside .
The project is projected to cost $56 million in all. A cool $10 million arrived in Delaware's 2022 Bond Bill, while $13 million came in the form of congressional directed spending secured by Delaware's delegation. Another $4 million arrived from federal ARPA funding.
Community leaders, as well as Gov. John Carney — currently campaigning to be Wilmington's mayor — say they need legislative support for an additional $10 million in funding.
🌶Albanian hot chicken coming to Newark
Three Albanian brothers who escaped the ethnic cleansing of Kosovo on their grandfather's tractor will now open a Newark restaurant devoted to their grandfather's fried chicken recipe.
Bab's Hot Chicken — "Baba" means grandfather in Albanian — is the newest restaurant concept from brothers Leo, Pep, and Jim Osmanollaj, who've become restaurateurs many times over since emigrating to America in 2000. In the greater Philly area, they have founded burger joints Haveaburger and m2o , as well as Albanian restaurant Toska, and now Bab's Hot Chicken.
The first location of Bab's, founded as Baba's, was in Audobon, Pennsylvania. Now they'll expand to Newark, taking over the 174 Main Street space of Freddy's Wings and Wraps — just down the street from a location of their m2o burger chain.
Bab's will be devoted to the fried chicken recipes of the brothers' grandfather, a chicken farmer known for his hot chicken.
"Baba raised us on his hot chicken," Leo Osmanollaj wrote in the restaurant's official founding story. "It was more than just a meal. It was a connection to our heritage." Now, that Kosovar hot chicken can be yours as of the restaurant's grand opening August 28. The restuarant will serve fried chicken tenders, wings, wraps, bowls, burritos and of course hot or original chicken sandwiches.
"Baba's sauce" is an option, but so are hot honey, chipotle ranch, Memphis BBQ and the ever trendy "Nashville hot." Sides at the Audobon location include fries, slaw, collards, backed beans and mac and cheese. Desserts include southern faves like peach cobbler and banana pudding.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: $56 million Kingswood Community Center breaks ground
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