“Our family is very proud to celebrate this wonderful dedication today,” said U.S. Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay (D-Missouri) said Friday morning, dedicating the William L. Clay Sr. Early Childhood Development and Parenting Education Center on the campus of Harris-Stowe State University at 10 N. Compton Avenue.
“Nothing that we do in government is more important than ensuring that every child in this country grows up safe, healthy and well-educated.”
More than 300 officials, community and school leaders, parents and students attended the dedication and tours of the new $17.5 million facility.
The center, which opens Aug. 24, will serve 76 students from six weeks to 5 years old. The facility is designed to meet the needs of young children, young parents, workers in the field of Early Childhood Education and Harris-Stowe students who are majoring in early childhood education. The program is also designed to encourage healthy child development during a child’s fastest growing life period.
“This building will not only serve the Harris-Stowe community but the entire St. Louis community overall,” said Henry Givens, Jr., president of the university.
Dr. Patricia Johnson, director of the Early Childhood Center and Program, said, “The center will provide a comfortably furnished resource library for parents where they can read or borrow research-based materials on child development and child-rearing practices to help increase their knowledge and strengthen their parenting skills.”
Program goals include helping to meet local workforce needs for early child development practitioners, improving the quality of early child care and education programs in the area and assisting parents in improving parenting skills.
The program will provide a full-day/full-year, well-rounded curriculum, including technology and the introduction of other languages, in a developmentally appropriate learning environment.
Construction of the $17.5-million facility began last year and was completed on time and within budget.
The unique design of the 50,000 square-foot building was created by architectural firm KAI Design & Build, a St. Louis-based minority business enterprise, and design consultant Adrian Luchini.
The building has silver LEED certification, which has many environmentally friendly aspects that make it unlike any other child care facility in the nation.
KWAME Building Group Inc., also a St. Louis-based minority business enterprise, was the construction manager and owner’s representative on the project. Kozeny-Wagner Inc. of Arnold, MO, was the general contractor.
“The client wanted a world-class facility to attract teachers, students and guest lecturers from around the world,” said KWAME project executive Craig Lucas. “We delivered that and accomplished it within their budget and the academic schedule.”
In addition to ensuring a quality services for children and families, school officials said they also considered the environment by creating a plan regarding water conservation, reducing waste and energy use and optimizing natural light.
Harris-Stowe is seeking Silver LEED certification. The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System is the nationally accepted third-party certification program for verifying high performance “green” buildings.
The facility’s namesake, former Congressman William Clay Sr. (D-Missouri), also spoke at the dedication, thanking Givens and the university for the recognition.
Clay Sr. was one of the founders of the Congressional Black Caucus, the first African American elected to Congress from Missouri and one of two African-American representatives elected from states west of the Mississippi River in the 1960s. He served 16 terms.
He was a St. Louis alderman from 1959 to 1964. In 1963, Clay served 105 days in jail for participating in civil rights demonstrations that protested the discriminatory hiring practices at the former Jefferson Bank. To St. Louisans, the protests became the watershed for race relations.
“For half a century, as an alderman, as a committeeman, and as a member of Congress, my father fought for children and working families,” said Wm. Lacy Clay.
“And one of the reasons he was so successful, and he retired undefeated, was because he never forgot why he ran for office and who hired him for the job.”
