Foundation president Kenneth Freemark said the landmark stone structure -- which dates to 1798 and has been vacant since the local branch of the Daughters of the American Revolution gave it up in the early 1990s -- will provide an office for both the foundation and its parent organization, the Delaware chapter of the American Institute of Architects. Among planned activities are continuing education classes for members of the chapter and, possibly, some public functions.

Meanwhile, Cathedral Community Services, an affiliate of the Cathedral Church of St. John, is working on plans to renovate four buildings that it owns in the 2000 block of Market Street and 

	convert them from apartments into offices. In connection with that project, it is looking to replace the present Brandywine Market grocery store at the corner of 20th and Market Sts. with a coffee shop-type gathering place. Rounding out current development in the Brandywine Village section of Wilmington is demolition of an old factory to permit construction of a $9 million federal Job Corps training facility fronting on Vandever Avenue next to the Academy building. Michael Looney, of the Montchanin Group, an architecture firm located in the neighborhood, described the Academy building as "one of the 10 most architecturally significant buildings in the state." Although in need of repair, the building and its distinctive copula retain much of their appearance from times past. As a result of earlier renovation, the  exterior looks pretty much the way it does  in a century-old photograph. The building has single rooms on each of its two levels.  Looney said the architects' 200-member professional organization is looking to complete initial improvements and move in as soon after the turn of the year as possible. Its foundation is purchasing the structure from Old Brandywine Village Inc., a community
Michael Looney (above, left) stands before the Brandywine Academy building. Inside (above, right) are the furnishings of an old schoolroom exhibited by the Daughters of the American Revolution. The spire of Cathedral Church of St. John is visible (below) beyond the 2000 block of Market Street, which a church affiliate plans to spruce up.

organization working on revitalization of the area, for a nominal sum.

Freemark said the decision to locate there was influenced both by its location close to Wilmington's central business district and the group's interest in being part of the area revitalization. The offices are now in the Community Services Building on W. 10th Street.

The Academy building was erected on land donated by John Dickinson and John Welsh to serve the population of Brandywine Village that lived and worked along the banks of the Brandywine. At the time, that part of the city was a separate entity. It was annexed in 1869. Noted chiefly for flour milling -- the present Superfine Lane takes its name from a designation for that commodity -- the area was astride the main East Coast highway linking Baltimore and Philadelphia. George Washington is known to have passed that way several times, including during his ceremonious journey from Virginia to New York to be inaugurated as first president.

The Academy building was used not only as a school predating the public school system but also for public meetings and social activities. It was the site of the first meetings of two congregations that established churches in Brandywine Village during the 1850s. It later became a part of the Delaware public school system, beginning in 1829, and later served as a branch of the city's public library from 1915 until 1943. 

Old Brandywine Village restored the structure in the early 1960s, but time is now taking a toll. Door and window sashes and frames, shutters, fences and the cupola show signs of serious rot. Plaster is disintegrating from through-wall moisture and from leaks at various windows and doors. Stains on the ceilings indicate roof leakage at the cupola. The building has a heating system but no air conditioning.

Looney said there is evidence of some break-ins and speculated that the building might have been used by homeless persons or vagrants for shelter. 

At a recent meeting of its governing body, the Episcopalian cathedral "make a conscious decision to get out of the [residential] tenant business," Matt Shipp told a meeting of the Brandywine Village revitalization steering committee on Nov. 6. It currently rents living quarters in the upper stories of the buildings south of its Debnam House facility. It owns all but the structure occupied by a tailor shop, from the owner of which Shipp said it has had expressions of support for the project.

After fixing up the outsides of the buildings the church affiliate would like to rent to nonprofit organizations. The corner gathering spot may take longer to become reality because the market has several years remaining on its lease, he said but added that it hopes to work out a suitable arrangement before then.