Laurel, Delaware, is a town of about 4,000 located in Western Sussex County. Founded in 1683, it has a rich history — with more historic buildings than any other town in Delaware — and was once home to a thriving downtown area. But Laurel has experienced a significant decline over the past several decades and has seen its once robust and thriving economic base for the community slowly drift away. 

Now, thanks to efforts by the University of Delaware’s Delaware Sea Grant and Delaware Cooperative Extension, the downtown area of Laurel is being revitalized, piece by piece, bringing renewed businesses, partnerships and a civic sense of pride back to the community. 

Laurel Redevelopment Corporation (LRC), a nonprofit organization dedicated to revitalizing the community; Sussex County Habitat for Humanity; Milford Housing Development Corporation; the Nanticoke Watershed Alliance; and other organizations are leading the charge to rebuild the downtown area of Laurel.

Since 2012, Delaware Sea Grant’s Sustainable Coastal Communities Initiative (SCCI) has been working with the Town of Laurel to help redevelop the town’s waterfront district. 

Delaware Sea Grant’s Sustainable Coastal Communities Initiative (SCCI) became involved with Laurel in November of 2012 when Ed Lewandowski, a community development specialist for Delaware Sea Grant and a board member of the LRC, co-led a land use and growth scenario process and recommended nutrient reduction strategies to protect water quality in the Broad Creek, a tidal tributary to the Chesapeake Bay. 

Working with stakeholders in Laurel, a Watershed Implementation Plan was completed, which was requested by the State of Delaware to meet federally mandated Chesapeake Bay regulatory requirements.

Afterward, leaders of the town approached Lewandowski and asked if Delaware Sea Grant could help bring visitors, residents and jobs back to downtown Laurel. 

“At that time, I had hardly any experience with community redevelopment,” Lewandowski said. “My career had centered around estuarine science, ecology and water quality. So naturally, when presented with this challenge, I gravitated to getting the community focused on how it might redevelop its Broad Creek waterfront.”

From that initial conversation sprung the Waterfront Redevelopment Plan, known as the Ramble, developed by Lewandowski; Jules Bruck, a former professor at UD’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and now the Director of the School of Landscape Architecture and Planning at the University of Florida; and graduate and undergraduate students from UD.  

Using stakeholder input from members of the Town of Laurel, the plan called for a village green, shops, waterfront cottages, a nature-based playground and a wetlands education area. In addition, a kayak launch would serve paddlers and outdoor enthusiasts, drawing more visitors to the town. 

The plan was imagined with sustainability in mind, which helped attract funding to conduct an environmental assessment as well as develop green infrastructure plans to limit pollution runoff into the creek. 

Bringing business to Laurel 

The Ramble is moving from a conceptual plan to a reality, as construction on the riverwalk that runs alongside Broad Creek will begin soon and Tidewater Park, a nature-based playground, officially opened in 2021. The park, which showcases some of the history and folklore of the Nanticoke Indian Tribe, the original inhabitants around Laurel, has a children’s playground and community-friendly amenities such as walking paths, shaded seating areas and a picnic pavilion. 

Davelli’s Bagel Café, a business offering breakfast and lunch to the community, has recently signed a lease with LRC to occupy a rehabilitated historic building located on Central Avenue and is expected to open by fall 2025. 

In addition, Sweet Brew, a specialty coffee business operating out of a food truck, has opened on a vacant lot that was formerly a brownfield site now converted to commercial space by the LRC.

Affordable housing

One of the goals of the Ramble was to develop affordable housing for the residents of Laurel. Nearly half of Laurel’s residents are renters, so affordable housing was needed in the town.

“We recognize that affordable housing is not only a nationwide crisis but certainly a Sussex County crisis, and about 50% of the residences in Laurel are rental units and not necessarily nice ones,” Lewandowski said. “We wanted to promote owner-occupied housing. And again, one of the components of the Ramble was a sustainable affordable housing subdivision.”