Construction Now Underway for Delgado Nursing and Allied Health Building

July 12, 2021

The $38.6 million building that will house the Charity School of Nursing and the Division of Allied Health at Delgado Community College is now under construction. The site of the new building is a former parking lot at the corner of City Park Avenue and Orleans Avenue, on the Delgado City Park Campus.

Care is being taken to ensure that the peaceful, yet active environment of the City Park neighborhood is maintained. All construction activities will take place behind a fabric barrier attached to a chain link fence surrounding the site. None of the existing oak trees lining the streets beside the construction site will be removed. Noise and vibration from pile-driving scheduled to begin in mid-July will be monitored and kept to minimal levels.

Delgado Community College produces 1,200 nursing and allied health professionals each year. The Charity School of Nursing was founded in 1894 and became part of Delgado in 1990. Allied health education at Delgado began in the 1970s and has grown to encompass 34 different programs that graduate 400 students yearly.

The $20 million gift announced in March 2021 by Ochsner Health to establish the Ochsner Center for Nursing and Allied Health at the City Park Campus and the Ochsner Scholars program--$10 million for the building and $10 million for the Ochsner Scholars--is the largest in the history of Delgado Community College. The location was selected to make healthcare education more accessible to more students from across the spectrum of the regional population.

Funded by the Ochsner Health gift and by the State of Louisiana, the new building replaces outdated facilities on the City Park Campus as well as the current location of the Charity School of Nursing in downtown New Orleans. The grand opening is expected for Spring Semester, 2023.

The new building will be about the same height as the iconic Isaac Delgado Hall next door, which opened in September 1921. Its contemporary glass-walled design includes traditional elements that will echo the century-old building beside it, while projecting an image of progress and innovation consistent with the college’s growing reputation for excellence.

Parking spaces removed to make room for the building are being relocated to other places on the City Park Campus. Ample parking for all students, faculty, staff and visitors will be available during construction and after completion.

With an enrollment of about 9,000 students each semester, the Delgado City Park Campus is the largest of the six Delgado locations in the New Orleans region. The college has focused on serving students closer to home at these locations, which include the Jefferson, River City and Sidney Collier sites and the West Bank Campus. This reduces enrollment at the flagship City Park Campus.

Recently, the popularity of online classes has reduced the number of students enrolled in face-to-face classes on the City Park Campus by 40 percent. This means that about 5,400 students attend classes on campus each semester. In comparison, the City Park Campus at its peak historic enrollment in 2011 served 12,459 students.

BUILDING FEATURES AT A GLANCE:

• Modern classrooms and state-of-the-art labs
• 120,000 total square feet
• Simulated hospital to ensure facilitated collaboration
• Capacity for 1,500 students, including nearly 900 nursing students
• $38.6 million total budget
• Designed by Manning Architects of New Orleans and Mackey Mitchell Architects of St. Louis
• Consolidates Delgado’s Charity School of Nursing and most Allied Health Division programs
• First new classroom facility at Delgado City Park Campus since opening of 60,000-sq-ft Thames Hall (library) and 15,000-sq-ft Martin Hall (Building 6) in 2015

Delgado Community College celebrates 100 years of service to the New Orleans region in 2021-22. The oldest and largest community college in Louisiana, Delgado provides instruction online and at seven locations. Delgado offers students the most comprehensive array of education and training services available in the New Orleans region. Additionally, Delgado has articulation agreements with most of the state’s four-year colleges and universities that allow students to transfer their Delgado credits to bachelor’s degree programs. Workforce development is a priority at Delgado, hence the college’s well-known motto: “Education that works!” www.dcc.edu