Historic buildings carry more than brick, stone, wood, and plaster. They carry stories. They remind communities where they have been, who shaped them, and why the places we walk past every day still matter. For EDiS Company, historic preservation work is about respecting those stories while making sure these buildings and public spaces can continue serving people today.
Across Delaware, EDiS has had the privilege of working on projects that protect the past and prepare important places for their next chapter. From museums and schools to civic landmarks and community centers, each project required care, coordination, and a deep understanding that historic work is never only about what is being built. It is also about what is being preserved.
Hagley Museum Historical Car Exhibit
At Hagley Museum, EDiS helped transform two ground-floor spaces within a historical 1800s barn into a 2,000-square-foot immersive car exhibit. The work blended old and new in a way that respected the character of the building while creating a more functional, controlled environment for museum visitors and the historic vehicles on display.
A key part of the project was introducing modern mechanical systems into the historic structure. The team incorporated a VRF heating and cooling system, along with dehumidification units, to help maintain consistent temperature and humidity levels throughout the year. Updated exhibit lighting and architectural finishes completed the space, allowing the vehicles to be showcased properly while preserving the barn’s historic feel.
Delaware Historical Society Annex Exterior Restoration
For the Delaware Historical Society Annex at 505 North Market Street, EDiS was brought in after cement covering the upper portion of the façade had fallen onto the street below. What began as an urgent safety repair became a careful restoration effort when historical photos revealed that detailed limestone medallions were hidden beneath the cement coverings.
EDiS barricaded the street for safety and carefully removed the remaining cement from the medallions. Using saws, chippers, power washing, brushing, polishing, and refinishing, the team uncovered the intricate limestone details that had been covered for decades. The result restored a long-hidden historic feature to the building and brought back a piece of Wilmington history that many people had never seen.
Delaware Historical Society Coxe House Renovation
EDiS continued its partnership with the Delaware Historical Society through the renovation of the Coxe House on Willingtown Square in Wilmington. The 2,000-square-foot, three-story certified historic landmark was renovated to provide the Jewish Historical Society of Delaware with dedicated space for archival storage, offices, a reading room, and small group discussions.
The project included significant mechanical, electrical, and life safety upgrades, including a new sprinkler system, HVAC system, lighting, dumbwaiter, storm windows, architectural finishes, exterior pointing, masonry work, painting, and an ADA-accessible ramp. During the renovation, the team discovered that the original pine wide-plank floors beneath the carpet were worth saving, so they were repaired and refinished rather than replaced. EDiS also helped the client think ahead by recommending a combined waterline and sprinkler strategy that would support future work across multiple Delaware Historical Society properties and save approximately $85,000.
Howard High School of Technology Renovations
Howard High School of Technology is one of Delaware’s most meaningful educational landmarks, with a history that reaches back to the 19th century and a current campus that opened in 1928. EDiS approached the renovation of with the understanding that the project had to preserve the school’s historic identity while supporting the needs of a modern, active campus.
Working with ABHA Architects and historical consultants, the EDiS team helped recreate the character of the school’s 1920s interior while integrating updated building systems. Custom wood doors, masonry, millwork, brickwork, limestone, and finishes were all carefully matched to the building’s original appearance. BIM/VDC scanning also played an important role when the team identified a damaged parapet that was not obvious to the naked eye. By catching the issue early, EDiS was able to help protect students, workers, and the project schedule.
Winterthur Museum & Country Estate
EDiS has partnered with Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library for decades, completing historic preservation, repair, infrastructure, and support work across the estate’s buildings and grounds. With a property of this scale and significance, the work has required a steady commitment to maintaining historic details, textures, materials, and appearances while making thoughtful improvements that support long-term use.
Projects at Winterthur have included gallery renovations, improvements to the Copeland Auditorium, HVAC and sprinkler upgrades, pavilion repairs, historic window upgrades, exterior restorations, and work throughout the grounds and gardens. From constructing the Neoclassical Folly for Winterthur’s outdoor exhibition to repairing stormwater damage along Clenny Run and refreshing the Copeland Lecture Hall during the museum’s annual closure, EDiS has helped preserve the estate’s beauty, function, and visitor experience.
Ursuline Academy Student Life Center and Fitness Center
At Ursuline Academy, EDiS helped preserve the century-plus history of a Wilmington institution while supporting the school’s future. The 36,000-square-foot Anthony N. Fusco Sr. Student Life Center was created through the adaptive reuse of the Ursuline Convent, a building deeply connected to the school’s identity. The project maintained important historic features, including stained-glass windows, wood beams, and the balcony, while creating a contemporary student-centered environment. Constructed on a compact, urban, occupied campus, the Student Life Center included learning spaces, dining facilities, a library, student atrium, chapel, classrooms, offices, a welcome center, bookstore, and student commons.
More recently, EDiS completed Ursuline’s new Fitness Center as part of a larger transformation of the school’s physical education facilities. Delivered on an uncompromising schedule, the Fitness Center now supports student athletics, wellness, physical education, and Ursuline’s commitment to educating the whole student.
Rodney Square Restoration and Revitalization
Rodney Square has long been one of Wilmington’s most recognizable public gathering spaces. Originally erected in 1921 and later placed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Square holds an important place in the city’s civic life. EDiS previously helped revitalize the space in 1992 and returned decades later to support a new phase of restoration and revitalization.
The work included updates to stonework and paving, improved drainage and irrigation, upgraded lighting and electrical systems, new benches and tables, new trees, shrubs, and green space, and the addition of an interactive fountain system. Because Rodney Square sits in the heart of downtown Wilmington, the project also required careful planning to reduce disruption for commuters, pedestrians, nearby businesses, and daily users of the Square. The result was a renewed public space designed to be more beautiful, usable, and welcoming for the community.
Hockessin Colored School #107
The Hockessin Colored School #107 was originally built in 1920 as a one-room schoolhouse for African American children who were not permitted to attend school with white children. Its history later became part of the legal foundation for Brown v. Board of Education through Bulah v. Gebhart, a Delaware case filed on behalf of Shirley Bulah after she was not provided transportation to attend the school located two miles from her home, despite a school bus driving daily in front of her home that transported white children to another nearby elementary school.
EDiS renovated the 2,300-square-foot building, renamed the Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Equity. The project included new systems, windows, doors, roofing, interior partitions, finishes, paint, historical exhibits, offices, educational space, support space, and an outdoor patio. Today, the Center serves as a place for living history, student learning, diversity training, community conversations, cultural competency lessons, and collaboration. It is a powerful example of preservation with purpose: honoring a painful history while creating space for education, understanding, and progress.
Peoples Settlement Association — In Progress
EDiS is currently working on the renovation and expansion of the historic Peoples Settlement Association building in Wilmington. The $12 million project will transform an East Side landmark that has served the community since 1901 into a more accessible, modern facility while preserving its long legacy of service to Wilmington residents.
The project will add elevator access, multiple classrooms, a full gymnasium, and expanded spaces for community gatherings. For an organization that has been rooted in the community for more than a century, the work is about more than improving a building. It is about strengthening a place that continues to support families, neighbors, and future generations.
Custom House — In Progress
EDiS is also currently working on the renovation and expansion of Wilmington’s historic Custom House for the State of Delaware and the Delaware Judiciary. Originally constructed in 1855 as the first federal building in Delaware, the landmark is being restored and expanded through a $76.7 million project that will create a 66,650-square-foot facility.
The project includes a 51,650-square-foot wrap-around addition to the original 15,000-square-foot building. The renovation will restore the second-floor courtroom for ceremonial functions and legal proceedings while creating a permanent home for New Castle County Supreme Court offices, branch administrative offices, and the Judiciary’s Community Resource Center. Once complete, the Custom House will continue to hold its place in Delaware history while serving the modern needs of the courts and the public.
Carrying History Forward
Historic preservation is not about keeping buildings exactly as they were. It is about understanding what makes them significant and making careful decisions so they can continue to serve their communities. The best historic projects respect original craftsmanship, protect meaningful details, and make room for modern systems, accessibility, safety, and new uses.
For EDiS, these projects reflect the kind of work that has defined the company for generations. They require technical knowledge, patience, creativity, and respect for the people and stories connected to each place. Most importantly, they remind us that history is not something we leave behind. It is something we continue building on.
