New Rowan Boulevard Welcome Center greets prospective students and their families

Rowan University celebrated a grand opening Oct. 2 for its all-new, 4,700 square-foot Welcome Center, a glass-front, centrally located information hub for prospective students and their families.

Built in the heart of Glassboro’s $450 million redevelopment zone just off the borough’s recently opened Town Square, the Welcome Center, at 131 Rowan Boulevard, is the University’s official new reception space.

“This is a one-stop place for (prospective) students who want to learn about Rowan,” said Provost Tony Lowman during a brief morning program.

Lowman, who recalled a visit several years ago to then-developing Rowan Boulevard with his daughter, who is now a Rowan freshman, marveled at how far the privately funded project has come.

“This Welcome Center drives home the message that this is now our home,” he said.

Construction along the Boulevard, roughly one-third of a mile long between Route 322 and Main Street, began in 2008 and is now largely complete. It includes a Barnes & Noble Collegiate Superstore, housing for thousands of students, restaurants, retailers, entertainment and academic space.

Some of the latest additions include Dawn to Dusk Café next door to the Welcome Center, La Scala’s Fire Italian restaurant across the street, and Mexican Mariachi Grill y Tequila Bar, about half a block away.

From the start, Rowan Boulevard was envisioned as middle ground between Glassboro and the University, a vast, privately financed project with a strong public component made up of students, friends, families, employees and neighbors.

Glassboro native Dante Germano, who as COO of Nexus Properties helped build much of the Boulevard, described the Welcome Center, and the tens of thousands of visitors it’s expected to draw each year, as vital to that vision.

“This is a true economic generator for Rowan Boulevard,” he said.

Student Government Association President Arielle Gedeon, who, as an Admissions Ambassador has begun giving campus tours from the new Welcome Center, said visitors are already excited.

“We all are,” said Gedeon, a junior in Rowan’s College of Communication & Creative Arts. “This shows the impact that Rowan and the Glassboro community have had together.”