The Campus Planning Commission approved the location for a new childcare facility Thursday, and only a rubber stamp from University President Dave Frohnmayer’s office remains necessary before plans are drawn and construction starts.
The new $2.6 million center, called the East Campus Children’s Center, is sited for the southeast corner of 17th Avenue and Columbia Street. It will replace the EMU childcare facilities and three other facilities in separate University-owned houses adjacent to the east part of campus.
“This has been a long time in coming,” said EMU Childcare Coordinator Dennis Reynolds, who will manage the new 200-child facility. “Now we can finally provide the kind of care facilities the children deserve.”
The University has used off-campus houses for childcare since June 1970, Reynolds said, and childcare directors requested a new facility in 1985. But the multiple places made coordination difficult, and some parents picked up children from two or three sites.
“It’ll be much more convenient now,” Reynolds said.
The EMU and off-campus facilities care for about 120 students, according to Reynolds, who said the move was not made because of space issues.
The new site will allow the University to offer care for infants and school-age children. Previously, the EMU and off-campus facilities only offered care for children older than 18 months and younger than kindergarten-age.
The Campus Planning Commission met with University and local community members, including the Fairmount Neighborhood Association, in a series of planning meetings, University Planning Associate Christine Thompson said. All parties’ concerns were consolidated into three issues: the need for childcare, wise long-range use of land, and the relationship with the neighborhood.
“There was quite a bit of discussion,” she said. “I think at this point everyone’s concerns have been addressed.”
Some residents said their concerns were not fully addressed, however.
Jeff Osanka, a Fairmount Neighborhood Association board member, said a recently constructed graduate student apartment complex on Moss Street increased traffic congestion and parking difficulty. He said that “parking has not been as perfect as they assured us it would be, and we hope the University will include parking space for the childcare facility in the plan.
“They need to put parking on the site,” Osanka said. “That is something the University has not traditionally found attractive.”