(SAN DIEGO, CA ­ August 15, 2001) Woodbury University today signed a long-term lease for a 33,000-square foot building that will serve as the new home for its rapidly growing San Diego architecture program. Students will begin classes at the site at 1060 8th Avenue when the fall semester starts on August 29.

Woodbury’s new four-story campus is located near the bustling Gaslamp Quarter Historic District and Horton Plaza, with convenient access to trolley stops on C Street. "Woodbury is extremely pleased to find a home in such an architecturally rich area of San Diego. Students will really benefit from this dynamic location," says Kenneth R. Nielsen, Ed.D., president, Woodbury University.

Woodbury’s new 8th Avenue campus offers a nationally accredited undergraduate architecture degree in collaboration with San Diego Mesa Community College to students who have completed the first two years of an architecture program. Woodbury established the San Diego program in 1998 at the Naval Training Center, now slated for redevelopment that includes a waterfront park, hotel and housing.

The San Diego campus, which graduated its first class this summer, features advanced computer-aided design applications, including digital animation, along with ample 24-hour design studio space, individualized workstations and a model workshop. Renovations planned for next year will create larger design studios. The 8th Avenue building, constructed in 1981, also offers plenty of space for future growth in enrollment.

One of the oldest institutions of higher learning in Southern California, Woodbury has tapped local architects to teach and provide students with close ties to the San Diego professional community. Among the San Diego-area architects who are teaching are Eric Naslund of Studio E Architects, Ted Smith of Smith & Others Architects, Andy Spurlock and Martin Poirier, Jim Brown and Jim Gates of Public, Catherine Herbst of Robb Quigley Architects and Teddy Cruz of estudio teddy cruz.

Architecture students may choose to take classes at both Woodbury’s Burbank and San Diego campuses, in addition to studying at its Community Design and Urban Research Center in Hollywood and or abroad at programs in Barcelona and Paris. The urban campuses in San Diego and Hollywood give architecture students a complement to the essentially suburban feel of Woodbury’s main Burbank campus.

The 117-year-old Woodbury has more than 1,400 students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate courses.

Founded in 1884, Woodbury University is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in Southern California. An accredited, nonprofit university, Woodbury is located on a 22-acre residential campus in Burbank and offers bachelor's degrees from the School of Architecture and Design, Business and Management, and Arts and Sciences. Woodbury also offers a master of business administration as well as weekend and evening study for working adults. A San Diego campus was established in 1998 to offer bachelor of architecture degrees.