The DuPont Building, occupying the entire block bound by 10th, 11th, Orange and Market streets, was one of the first high-rises in Wilmington, Delaware. It looks out over Rodney Square. The building was built in phases, with the original building constructed in 1908 fronting Rodney Square. At the time, the building housed the offices of DuPont. In 1913, the building was expanded into a "U" by adding wings along 10th and 11th streets, the DuPont Playhouse was added, and a portion of the original 1908 section was converted into the Hotel duPont. The final addition to the building occurred in 1923 when the Orange Street addition was added along with an additional two floors (bringing the floor count to 13 and the height to 124').
Until early 2015 the building housed DuPont's headquarters. In December 2014, DuPont announced that it was moving and consolidating its corporate headquarters at its nearby Chestnut Run Plaza site and that The Chemours Company, which spun off from DuPont in 2015, would move into the DuPont Building. As well as Chemours, the building houses The Playhouse on Rodney Square (formerly the DuPont Playhouse), the Hotel duPont, and a branch of M&T Bank.
Under pressure from activist shareholders, the company first leased the building's DuPont Playhouse in January 2015 to The Grand Opera House, which renamed it The Playhouse on Rodney Square. The entire structure and the hotel business were then sold to Wilmington-based developer Buccini/Pollin in January 2018. The new owners have leased the building's office space back to Chemours, will continue to lease The Playhouse to The Grand Opera House, and have promised to keep the hotel operating.
Video DuPont Building
Further reading
- Ayres, Harry V. (1981). Hotel du Pont Story: Wilmington, Delaware, 1911-1981. Wilmington, Del: Serendipity Press. ISBN 9780914988076.
Maps DuPont Building
References
External links
- Hotel du Pont
- DuPont Theatre
- DuPont Theatre records (1919-2001) at Hagley Museum and Library
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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