GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP — Substantial donations from two private donors will help pay for an addition to the Sam Azeez Museum of Woodbine Heritage in Woodbine and the Hammonton satellite campus of Richard Stockton College, college president Herman J. Saatkamp said Thursday.
Saatkamp declined to name the donors at this time, but said the donor to the Hammonton project on Front Street would have the building named in their honor.
The donor to the classroom addition at the Azeez museum is paying half of the $1,066,000 construction costs. The college is paying the remaining $533,000.
Michael Azeez and the Azeez Foundation donated the synagogue and museum along with a $5 million endowment to the college in October 2011. Azeez said at the time he was looking for a way to expand the mission of the museum and educate the public about the Jewish settlement and its history in Woodbine. He also agreed to help with fund raising for the addition.
Saatkamp said Thursday at a meeting of the board of Stockton Affiliated Services Inc. , or SASI, that the classroom addition, expected to be completed in November, will focus on Holocaust education, but could also host other classes. SASI will manage the site. Azeez is a member of the SASI board, but did not attend the meeting and was unavailable for comment Thursday.
The Azeez Foundation had already begun plans for the addition when the site was donated last year, and is overseeing the construction. Woodbine Mayor William Pikolycky said the walls are going up and the total cost of the project is almost $2 million. He said he is very excited about the prospect of bringing students into Woodbine, and the city is also completing a $1 million downtown streetscape project that includes new lighting, sidewalks and landscaping.
“It will give the downtown a nice feel,” he said.
The estimated cost of the Hammonton project is $4.3 million college officials said. The town of Hammonton awarded a construction contract for $3.2 million to Martell Construction earlier this year. The town owns the building and secured some grant funds for the $295,000 purchase, but the college through its investment fund, will reimburse the city for the renovations and take over the building once it is complete. SASI is monitoring the work.
Stockton will continue to offer classes at St. Joseph High High School this fall, and will move to the new site for the spring semester in January.
The college’s new satellite campus at 712 East Bay Avenue in the Manahawkin section of Stafford Township in Ocean County will be ready for classes in September, Saatkamp said. He said the site will start small, but is expected to grow since the college attracts a large number of students from Ocean County. Almost 1,500 students from Ocean County attended Stockton in the fall of 2010 according to data filed by the college.
Trish Krevetski, assistant vice president for auxiliary services at Stockton, said the eighth house built by SASI on Orange Tree Avenue is complete. The five-bedroom four-bath home has been leased. All of the homes are rented to graduate students, veterans attending the college and college staff.
The renovations to the N-Wing cafeteria are also almost complete. The $1.24 million project is being paid for The Compass Group, which owns Chartwells the campus food service operator. Krevetski said SASI’s long-term contract with Chartwells, which runs until 2026, included investment in upgrading the facilities. The new site includes a Mama Leone’s restaurant with brick pizza oven.
