By Lookout Staff
March 26 – More than 20 years after taking the first steps to build a daycare facility, the City Council Tuesday finally brought the plan to fruition when it unanimously voted to authorize the City Manager to negotiate with Santa Monica College to build and operate an
Early Childhood Education Center at the Civic Center.
The 12,500 square foot building and 7,500 square foot outdoor play area will be designed and built with $7 million from Measure S, a college bond approved by Santa Monica and Malibu voters in 2004.
The center -- situated in close proximity to employees at City Hall, RAND, the County Courthouse and the residents at a 330-unit project called The Village -- will serve as a laboratory and teaching program for SMC’s Early Childhood Education students.
A private operator will be selected by the college to operate the facility, which will serve as a preschool for 100 children, including as many as 24 spaces for infants and toddlers..
“SMC Early Education Studies students will be able to participate in the center’s services, observe children and teachers in daily interactions, and attend classes on site in a lecture hall,” staff wrote in a report to the council.
The building is meant to serve as a “visual screen and noise buffer” between a proposed park and the existing County Courthouse, according to City staff.
To bridge a funding gap, the council has approved $1.1 million to assist in the planning, design and development of the facility.
The RAND Corporation and the developer of The Village have each contributed $500,000 to help pay for the design, construction, operation and maintenance of the center.
City Manager Lamont Ewell will negotiate an agreement that sets out roles, responsibilities, financing and operational details impacting the design, construction and operation of the new facility.
