Wilmington-based nonprofit Beacon Education plans to build another Spark Academy on land it recently purchased on North Fourth Street in Wilmington’s Brooklyn Arts District.
Beacon Education purchased tracts at 812, 816, 818 and 822 N. Fourth St., along with 13 Collier Alley, in two transactions earlier this year. The land sold for a combined $1.7 million, according to deed records.
Todd Godbey, Beacon Education’s president and CEO, said the site’s location is a good fit for the Spark Academy model, which offers early childhood education to students ages six weeks through pre-K at various income levels. In addition to Spark Academy, which opened its first campus in 2023 at 1802 S.17th St., Beacon Education also operates the Girls Leadership Academy of Wilmington (GLOW).
At Spark, around half of the students pay full tuition, while the other half receive financial aid, according to Godbey. That mixed-income model helps ensure the students’ kindergarten readiness, regardless of their families’ socioeconomic status, he added.
One of Beacon Education’s strategies to address socioeconomic disparities in learning is locating Spark Academies in areas where low- and high-income areas naturally come together. As an example, Godbey points to Spark Academy’s 17th Street location, between Houston Moore Apartments and the Wilmington Housing Authority to the west and Cape Fear Country Club and more affluent neighborhoods to the east.
The property on North Fourth Street was one of the first pieces of land Beacon Education looked at for a Spark Academy, Godbey said.
“We couldn't get the deal to come together; it just didn't work,” Godbey said. “And then (the land) came off the market for a while, and then someone bought one of the parcels. But then it all came back together several months ago, and Jeff (Hovis) called me and said, ‘Guess what?’”
Hovis, a broker with Wilmington-based Intracoastal Realty Corp., said the deal involved juggling two different owners and the combination of four tracts of land ahead of the sale.
In March, Beacon Education closed on the four tracts at 816, 818 and 822 N. Fourth St. and 13 Collier Alley for $675,000, according to a deed, buying the property from Fourth Street Townhomes LLC. Beacon purchased the 0.55-acre tract at 812 N. Fourth St. in April for $1.1 million from Mr. Moose LLC, deeds show.
Godbey said Beacon Education is in the early stages of planning for another Spark Academy on the site, including work on an environmental study that will examine various demographic factors in the area, such as the number of potential students, average household income, the number of downtown employees and the number of families that could pay full tuition versus receiving financial aid.
Those factors will help determine how many student spaces are needed at the education center, which will guide the building’s size and cost, Godbey said. Beacon Education will aim to fundraise much of the project’s cost, and the group could look to the New Hanover Community Endowment for funds, he said.
The North Fourth Street site would likely accommodate a smaller building than the one on 17th Street, Godbey said. He expects the new location to hold between 100 and 150 students and take several years to develop.
Godbey said planning is also underway for a third Spark Academy location. The organization’s strategic plan outlines a goal of five Spark Academies in the area, including four in New Hanover County and one in northern Brunswick County, he said.
“We continue to look for other property around town,” Godbey said, “and will continue to buy in those areas that fit our mission and model.”
