On Thursday, June 6th, 2019, the Rutgers Center for Adult Autism Service began demolition for a new headquarters building.
Demolition began on the remainder of the Corwin Residence Halls. History states that when the New Jersey College for Women was founded in 1918, the search for funding to build dormitories was difficult as investors were not convinced that the college would succeed.
Ultimately, the Dean and her board found an investor to build the Corwin houses. The decision was made to build the houses in this particular “cottage” style in the event that the college failed, this way they could then easily sell the houses instead of figuring out how to sell a huge dormitory. Over the course of the NJCW/Douglass College history, the Corwin’s have housed the Global Village residence housing, graduate housing, family housing, upper-class housing, and a number of Rutgers departments. Additionally, "Old Corwin" was the original site where the Douglass Developmental Disabilities Center (DDDC), the first university-based school for people with autism was founded in 1972. It only seems fitting that the current demolition is making way for the new headquarters building for the Rutgers Center for Adult Autism Services, which is also the first of its kind in the world as an organization dedicated to ensuring that adults on the autism spectrum have the opportunity to lead meaningful lives within their communities.
The new facility will include a multifunctional room and vocational training space, administrative offices for faculty and clinical staff, and support spaces and provide community-based job training, life skills, and recreational opportunities. A groundbreaking ceremony will be held on Monday, June 10th, 2019 at 102 Nichol Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ.