After more than a year of controversy, the ground has finally been broken on the corner of East 17th Avenue and Moss Street. The site will be the new home of the Moss Street Child Center, part of the University Child Care and Development Center.
The CCDC was established in 1970 as a one-site center, but for the past 30 years it has had several temporary homes. Currently, the CCDC has programs located in the EMU, in Westmoreland located at 2169 West 17th Court and at the Green House on 1533 Moss Street.
The new building will replace the center in the EMU and the Green House and will have the capacity to serve up to 120 children at any time.
“For over 30 years, we’ve had ‘temporary’ residency down the street,” said Veronica Sunderland, a student organizer for the CCDC. “Finally, we have our own facility that’s designed as a child care center, not just as an old house converted into one.”
The new center was not welcomed by everyone, however. Many residents in the Fairmount Neighborhood, the neighborhood surrounding the center, were opposed to the construction.
Complaining that the center would ruin the residential quality of the neighborhood by increasing traffic and noise, residents spent months working with University planners and architects to ensure that the integrity of their neighborhood remains intact.
Plans for the building were approved by Eugene city planners in early December. ASUO President Rachel Pilliod said the construction of the center is a “huge
accomplishment” for the entire student body, not just nontraditional students.
“This building is something that students — over the last 30 years — have chosen to prioritize,” Pilliod said.
Several multigenerational families gathered to celebrate CCDC at the groundbreaking ceremony for the new building on Thursday.
Amanda Stout attended CCDC while her mother was a student at the University. Amanda and her husband David placed their two young daughters, Samantha and Antonia, in the CCDC program while they attended classes.
“We wouldn’t have been able to go to school without CCDC,” Amanda Stout said. “I really feel comfortable with the program. I like the teachers, the parents, the other children.”
The new building, which is estimated to cost about $2.6 million, should be open for service in January 2004, according to Child Care Center Coordinator Dennis Reynolds. Hours of operation for the center will be from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. CCDC is open to the community, but University families are given first priority for enrollment.
The program is accredited by the National Academy of Early Childhood Programs and has met the standards for a high-quality early childhood program. The new CCDC building will help to ensure these high standards continue to be met in the future, according to program organizers.
“We’re working on laying the foundation of a program that will form the grounds for parents and families in years to come,” Reynolds said.