Child development center to break ground

Groundbreaking ceremonies for a new child development and family studies center will be held July1.

The 9,000 square-foot School of Human Sciences Child Development and Family Studies Center is made possible by a $1 million interest-free loan from The Christ Is Our Salvation (CIOS) Foundation, established by Mr. and Mrs. Paul Piper of Memphis. The university is using the loan to construct the facility, which should be operational by next spring.

The Pipers are expected to join President Donald Zacharias and other university officials and special guests for the 10:30 a.m. ceremony at the College View Street construction site.

The center will be located between Aiken Village and Humphrey Coliseum.

When complete, the building will serve as the new home for the infant/toddler and child development programs, both of which now are located in two wood-frame structures built in the 1930s for faculty housing.

The new center will continue to be staffed by full-time child development professionals and will serve as a teaching laboratory for nearly 100 students enrolled in the human development and family studies curriculum. It will accommodate up to 100 infants and children ranging from six weeks old to kindergarten age. The current facilities serve just 65.

Students from the School of Human Sciences' programs, including foods, nutrition and dietetics; apparel, textiles and merchandising; and interior design, as well as students from the academic majors of social work, counselor education and educational psychology will have opportunities to use the facility.

Architectural plans allow for expansion to include a wing devoted to senior citizens. The proposed eldercare wing also would serve as a laboratory for students in the school's concentration in gerontology.

The university has contracted with KQC of Lewisville, N.C., a specialist in child development center design. KQC will subcontract with local firms to construct the building. The Jackson/Columbus firm of Johnson Bailey Henderson McNeel will serve as local architects for the project.