St. Francis College Is Moving Off Remsen Street Next Year
I was sad to hear that St. Francis College was moving out of Brooklyn Heights to a new location in Brooklyn, which doesn’t seem as dynamic.
St Francis is moving to 181 Livingston Street (over Macys – see here). This building was set to be a Whittle School, a private PreK-12 school. When Covid-19 hit, Chris Whittle got a PPP loan for $2 Million dollars for the school, but now must decided against opening the Brooklyn campus. (See here)
It’s like St. Francis it is giving up the college’s history of success on Remsen Street. What history? My whole family graduated from St. Francis – all within four years!
Remsen Street was the most perfect place for a college. It had the perfect mix of parks, shopping, restaurants and bars around the school. When you got off the train and turned the corner to walk towards the school, the freshest gust of wind always hit your face! You *just* knew it was going to be a great day!
Over the years, a lot has changed at St. Francis. When I attended the school, it cost $2500 – $3200 a semester. So it was under $6000 a year to take up to 36 credits. I had two small scholarships which cut the cost a little. This was affordable to families with multiple children in school. Now the web shows that St. Francis cost $47,498 a year ($26,266 on average after financial aid). How did this school become so expensive?
St. Francis College has many great Division 1 Sports Teams. The new plans don’t have a pool or gym. That’s just insane that would be overlooked or outsourced! The current location on Remsen Street has a great gym and a pool too. Many international students, especially those from Croatia, register at St. Francis because of their great water polo team.
The real magic of St. Francis College was in the professors. They knew their material, loved it and were fully engaged! People are surprised when I tell them that I had professors that went to dinner with us (Dr. Garcia and Dr. Hughes) or work up early on Saturday morning to walk around and teach us the history of this city! (Dr. Sparr and Dr. Hughes) We even had professors who served us spaghetti dinner when we were inducted into the honor society. (Brother Vincent Healy and Dr. Bonnano) Such inspiring people who loved their subject areas and their students!
My memories of the perfect college experience will always be on Remsen Street! And since graduating from St. Francis, I’ve always owned a terrier.
Hugs,
marlene
Topics: Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
May 19th, 2021 at 12:10 pm
They showed they didn’t care about their history when they destroyed the lovely library. They will sell the property on Remsen for big bucks,no doubt. If they were going to move they should have gotten a spot where they could have a campus (and not on a roof like they are apparently planning to have, per this story, link below.) Easier said than done, I know.Quote: “The college said in a press release that while the new campus does not include a gym or pool on site, the college was developing partnerships with nearby institutions to share indoor spaces for practice sessions and competitions.” Good news for Macy*s, I think they own this building, and may find students eager for part-time jobs. https://www.bkreader.com/2021/05/18/st-francis-college-to-open-new-campus-in-downtown-brooklyn/