Delaware’s first STEM Hub is the newest pillar in resurrecting Wilmington’s Riverside community

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Anybody riding through the industrial and retail wasteland of Northeast Boulevard in Wilmington over the past two years couldn’t help but notice the impressive structure rising off the bedraggled strip.

First, there was a sprawling mound of dirt and construction equipment, then a mass of rust-colored ironwork. Workers next covered the long two-story building that’s attached to EastSide Charter School with a swath of blue insulation wrap.

What stands now is a sleek, gleaming 41,000-square-foot brick and glass facility that will serve as the state’s first educational STEM Hub.

Check out this time-lapse video for the STEM Hub that’s now open at EastSide Charter School in Wilmington’s resurrecting Riverside section: pic.twitter.com/rD4OoCbD95

— WHYY News (@WHYYNews) January 6, 2025

The $27 million center aims to give EastSide students a leg up in STEM subjects — science, technology, engineering and mathematics — as a major pillar in the monumental effort to resurrect the impoverished Riverside area on the city’s northeastern edge.

The 10-year-plus reclamation project in the once-thriving area, which also includes 700 new homes in place of rundown public housing units, and new teen and community centers, was the subject of a WHYY News documentary that debuted in October.

EastSide students can start using the STEM Hub this week when they return to classes after the holiday break. The curriculum offerings are unprecedented for a Delaware K-8 school. There will be courses in engineering, robotics, coding, chemistry, biology, gaming, 3D printing, renewable energy and other STEM-related subjects, including one sponsored by NASA.

EastSide students will take classes there, and after school the Wilmington Library will oversee programs that will be available to anyone, regardless of where they live, for free.

“You can walk off the street from anywhere in the state of Delaware and engage in a career in STEM with nonprofits and Fortune 500 corporations,” says EastSide Charter CEO Aaron Bass.

Bass, who gave WHYY News a tour of the center Friday in advance of its opening, says the center will transform student’s lives by providing opportunities they previously could only dream of in their K-8 school. He said the residents of Delaware who use the facility will also help revitalize the area while exposing more people to the work of REACH Riverside, the group overseeing the area’s revitalization.

Bass took the lead in raising the money for the STEM Hub from corporate, philanthropic and government funds. The building bears the name of the Wilmington-based Chemours chemical company, which donated $4 million. Bass said $2 million more is needed to reach $27 million.

Bass and colleague Ray Rhodes, who will oversee community engagement at the STEM Hub, spoke with pride about their new venture while workers put the finishing touches on the facility.

Bass paid homage to Delaware’s history in STEM, noting the impact of the DuPont Co. chemical empire and W. L. Gore and Associates, known worldwide for its waterproof, breathable Gore-Tex fabrics. Chemours is a DuPont spinoff.

“You think back to the industry that takes place in Delaware, it is STEM,’’ Bass said. “The problem is that many people in Delaware don’t have an access point.”

The STEM Hub helps fill that void by providing lessons to students and residents in critical subjects, and will also provide mental health services to the public.

“We have to make sure that we are trying to support the entire child, the entire family,’’ Bass said. “We’re also excited for the fact that we can add to the fabric” of the improving Riverside community.

Rhodes, who had a career as an architect before migrating to education, said he was drawn to the STEM Hub because of its potential to have a gigantic impact.

“This to me was radical,’’ Rhodes said. “Sometimes we use that word and it’s taken out of context, but we had to do something different. We had to go bigger, and now people are going to see the impact that we’re going to have for students in K through 8 and for our general community.”

Autumn Rue, who teaches science and math to EastSide’s middle school students, took a break from setting up her new classroom in the STEM Hub to rave about its potential.

“The property grants the students so much more access to things that this community wouldn’t usually have access to,’’ Rue said. “It gives them a chance to become excited about STEM, especially the girls.

“I’ve seen so many more girl students become interested in science. And just so many kids asking lots and lots of questions and just the fact that they have not just science opportunities, but [multimedia] recording, all sorts of things. It’s endless opportunities for them. So I think it’ll be huge.”

Mark Neumann, who was CEO of Chemours when the company made its financial commitment, said during construction that it’s critical to foster STEM education so industries can hire scientists, engineers, mathematicians and programmers.

“Our vision is that this could become a model for underprivileged communities where companies like Chemours can go in,” Newman said. “And there is a sort of a cookie cutter template that you could say, ‘Hey, we’re going to put one of these here in this community,’ and this will provide facilities and a basis for teachers to get into the next generation excited about science.”