By Theodore Geigle
The Scene staff
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson traveled to the Forest Park campus on Tuesday to help cut the ribbon on a long-awaited $8 million child-care center.
It will open in the fall for the children of students, faculty and staff, as well as the general public.
“I think our children are the future, and the only way to change our society for the better is through education and investing in our children,” Parson said at a press conference.
“We wouldn’t be where we are now if the generations before us didn’t invest in our future.”
The new Child Development Laboratory Center will also be a place where students in St. Louis Community College’s child and family development program will get hands-on experience.
The center is on the first floor of Forest Park’s physical education building, which the college began renovating about a year and a half ago.
It will accommodate about 60 children at a time.
“The 10,000-square-foot space includes a lobby, age-appropriate learning rooms, conference rooms, a sensory engagement room and an outdoor playground,” according to a STLCC press release.
The playground is still under construction in the former location of the college softball field.
People interested in enrolling their children for child-care services in the fall can put their names on a waiting list. The college hasn’t yet released information about enrollment fees.
The building renovation cost $8 million, STLCC Chancellor Jeff Pittman said at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. That’s less than the $10 million estimate that officials used last year.
Some $4 million came from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education using money from the federal CARES (Coronavirus, Aid, Relief and Economic Security) Act. The college is paying the remainder out of its capital-fund budget.
“This is a great day for children,” Pittman said at the press conference. “(The child-care services) will be affordable and beneficial to students.”
Another speaker was L. Jared Boyd, chief of staff for St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones. She couldn’t attend due to a prior engagement.
“Child care is essential for our society, and for a lot of parents with dreams, child care lets those parents pursue their dreams,” Boyd said.
It’s been 12 years since Forest Park had a child-care center. The previous one opened in 1995, giving students, faculty and staff a place to leave their children while attending classes or working. Services were cheaper than those at private facilities.
Many people were caught off guard in 2009, when the STLCC board voted to follow an administrative recommendation and close child-care centers on the Forest Park and Meramec campuses.
Since that time, a location of the Child Development Laboratory Center has operated on the Florissant Valley campus.
The new Forest Park center contrasts with many child-care facilities because walls and furniture, including baby cribs, bookshelves, tables and chairs, are white or tan instead of bright colors.
Notable features include two-way mirrors that STLCC students can use to observe activity in classrooms.
“Teachers that work there will have full style control over the room that they work in with regards to our curriculum,” said Brandy Jones, director of childhood development at Florissant Valley and Forest Park.
STLCC students, faculty and staff will get priority consideration when applying for services at the child-care center, according to Jones.
People can put their names on the list now by writing Karin Goetz at kgoetz7@stlcc.edu.
Grant money is available for STLCC students who need help paying for services. To get more information, email Anna-Marie Mann, vice president of student support programs, at amann@stlcc.edu.