Johnson and Wales Announces Campus

June 2002

The tale is on the verge of becoming an urban legend. John Tuamala, a graduate of Johnson and Wales, heard through a friend that the school was looking to establish a new urban campus somewhere. He told chamber officials here, who promptly rounded up a posse and went a'courtin'.

They came back with quite a prize. Construction has started on the $80-million complex. Classes start next fall. Johnson and Wales, a four-year culinary and hospitality university, will anchor the Gateway Village project on West Trade Street. Its 3,000 students will eventually inject an energy into downtown that boosters have long been seeking. Its interns and graduates will alter the local restaurant and hotel landscape.