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More than 40 years ago, a ground-breaking center opened its doors at 145 Mathews, offering high-quality, affordable child care to parents who might otherwise not be able to afford it. But after many years, the Children’s Center building was facing several structural problems, including plumbing, electrical and other code issues.
So, about eight years ago, the local Zonta Club, the VanLandingham Rotary and Kiwanas came together to find the funding and the manpower to build a new center. After several years of hard work and dedication, their dream is coming true. Last month, a groundbreaking ceremony took place to celebrate the construction of a stateof-the-art building across from Jarvis Park, which is scheduled to open in fall 2010.
“We’ve patched, added on and fixed (the old building) as much as possible,” said Children’s Center board member Karen Ryan, who is also a member of the Zonta Club.
The project for the new building started eight years ago, when the Zonta Club undertook it as its service project, said Ryan. The club, along with the VanLandingham Rotary and Kiwanas, contributed seed money for a feasibility study. They approached Jerry Reeves III, a long-time Children’s Center board member who was instrumental in working with the town of Bluffton in opening a Children’s Center site in that town at the old M.C. Riley school building. After some initial concerns over how the center would pay for a new building and long-term costs, he went to work on the plan.
They put together a capital campaign committee with David Ames, who also is on the board of Hope Haven, at the helm, and approached the town of Hilton Head Island for help. The town agreed to provide a new site in exchange for the current site. After two sites didn’t work out because of title and environmental issues, the town made the trade with the Children’s Center for the land across from Jarvis Park for the property that the center currently occupies.
The new 19,000-square-foot center will include art and music, multi-purpose and meeting rooms. It will also include areas for programs like LEAP, which helps parents get back into the workforce with programs that include subjects like dressing for success and resume writing.
“It’s just very satisfying to look back and see the site they’re coming from and where they’re going to,” said Ryan. “The teachers and the students deserve this. The teachers are so committed and loyal and wonderful. They’re thrilled. And I think it will be amazing for the parents. It really is a facility that the whole community has gotten behind.”
