Villanova announces Cabrini University campus to close for two years for renovations

Villanova University officially assumed ownership of Cabrini University’s campus in Radnor Friday and announced it will be closed for at least two years for renovations.

The 112-acre campus that Villanova purchased will reopen in fall 2026 at the earliest, the Rev. Peter M. Donohue, president of Villanova, said in a message to the Villanova community.

The renovation work will make the campus “feel like a natural extension of Villanova,” he wrote, with the goal of making “enhancements to the property to renew its use as an idyllic university campus.”

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As part of its commitment to honor Cabrini’s legacy and mission, the campus, which is about two miles from Villanova, will be called the “Villanova University Cabrini Campus,” Villanova said.

Starting Monday, the majority of the campus will be closed to the public, with the exception of the Upper Gulph entrance and the athletic facilities that are used for local camps and other activities, Donohue said. That portion of the campus also will close at the end of the summer, he said.

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Villanova has not yet announced how it will use the campus, but said in a statement that it will “maintain the current usage and functionality of the Cabrini campus buildings.” That means academic buildings and residence halls will continue to be used as such.

Hit by financial difficulty and lagging enrollment, Cabrini announced a year ago that it would close at the end of the 2023-24 academic year and that it reached a tentative agreement with Villanova to purchase the campus. The universities announced in November that they had finalized that plan.

Villanova is paying $45 million to retire Cabrini’s debt and spending an additional $25 million on campus improvements, according to a bond offering statement.

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In trying to determine how to use the campus, Villanova said employees have visited other universities with multiple campuses, conducted a survey of the campus community and held internal discussions. Making it a freshman campus or converting it into graduate student housing are among some suggestions.

Donohue said in his message that he had shared “a preliminary vision” with the university’s board of trustees and planned to share the same with the campus in the fall.

“There is still much work to be done for the Villanova University Cabrini Campus, but it’s an exciting vision for what Villanova will become in the next several years,” Donohue said.