Burlington’s Doane Academy is expanding with new facilities
The new athletic facility and auditorium will be built just a short walk from the Delaware River.
Standing in the shadow of the Burlington-Bristol Bridge, the 189-year-old Doane Academy is expanding its footprint in Burlington City with a new athletic facility and auditorium.
On the corner of Pear and Ellis Streets, just a short walk from the Delaware River across from the private school’s main campus, a new $10.5 million building will include a field house, fitness center, and gymnasium. The existing gym, built in 1965 as part of the school’s primary cluster of buildings along the riverfront, will be converted into an auditorium.
The independent Episcopal day school serves roughly 200 students from pre-K through 12th grade. Tuition varies based on grade level and program, ranging from $16,600 for pre-K to second grade to $25,700 for grades nine through 12 for the 2026-27 school year.
Pre-construction work on site has already been completed, Doane Academy’s head of school, Erin Mayo, said in an email. Construction will begin when the school gets the final building permit from the city, Mayo said, with the goal of completing the athletic center in August 2027.
Doane will then convert the former gym into an auditorium, a $1.6 million project it hopes to finish by early 2028, she said. A small portion of the auditorium conversion has already been completed: The gym’s locker-room area was reconfigured into a new instrumental music space in 2023, Mayo said.
Doane Academy raised $6.4 million for the projects before the effort was bolstered by an $8 million gift from the Lee Rowan Foundation, the school announced Wednesday.
“This gift is simply monumental,” Mayo said in a statement announcing the donation. “It enables us to make radical, long-desired strides for our students in their athletic and performing arts experiences. We are enduringly grateful to the Lee Rowan Foundation for its generosity and faith.”
While the new facilities will primarily serve the school’s student body, Mayo said they also plan to offer fitness center memberships and court rentals to the community.
Inquirer South Jersey
