A diagram by the city shows one potential alignment for the United Learning Center at the corner of Maple Street and Pearl Street in Centralia.
The United Way, the Boys & Girls Club of Lewis County, the Early Learning Center and the Discover! Children’s Museum are among the backers of a proposed United Learning Center that would provide a central location for services for area children in a vacant lot across from Centralia City Hall.
The proposal was debated during a recent Centralia City Council meeting and will again come before the council Tuesday as the partners seek an investment from the city in the form of up to $1.9 million in real estate excise tax reserve funds, much of which came from the United Natural Foods Incorporated grocery distribution center in the Port of Centralia.
The project, which is being pursued without the need for money from the city’s general fund or new taxes, is being envisioned as an innovative one-stop location where children can learn and recreate while also potentially serving as a location for the city’s Recreation Department programs.
Centralia City Councilor Peter Abbarno, a vocal supporter of the United Learning Center, noted that the location being eyed by the partners is ideal because of studies previously done when it was being considered as a new headquarters for Twin Transit.
“This is a spot where you can build it with flexibility and it’s already shovel ready,” he said during a recent meeting with The Chronicle Editorial Board.
Four options for the facility range in cost from $4.3 million to the preferred $9.8 million option that would include the Early Learning Center, a gym, the Boys and Girls Club, the children’s museum, miscellaneous space and a playground.
It would include 17,800 square feet for the museum, a 8,120-square-foot gym, 10,600 square feet for the Early Learning Center, 4,640 square feet for the Boys & Girls Club and a playground and turf field large enough to accommodate a U8 soccer field that could play host to games.
In addition to the proposed investment from the city, the groups already have money in hand thanks in large part to the legislative work of state Rep. Richard DeBolt, who helped secure $3 million from the state for the Early Learning Center and $1 million for the children’s museum in recent sessions.
The city would own and maintain the facility under the proposed plan, though there would be no impact on the general fund, according to the city.
The idea is not new.
In recent years, the partner organizations have weighed the feasibility of using existing structures such as R.E. Bennett in Chehalis and the shuttered school in the Logan District of Centralia, but those options were deemed problematic for a number of reasons.
Supporters of the project say the location being eyed in downtown Centralia is ideal for a number of reasons ranging from its central location and ability to grow to its close proximity to city hall and access to bus routes.
Child care and early learning are especially important today, backers say, as many parents struggle to find a safe place for their children to learn and play and studies showing less than 50 percent of Lewis County children are arriving to kindergarten having hit benchmarks for academic success.
“This is about education for all of our organizations,” said Larry McGee, of the Discover! Children’s Museum. “And it’s about early education.”
To that point, Todd Chaput noted that Head Start and ECEAP are doing their jobs well when it comes to providing services for young learners who fall below the poverty line, but others have difficulty acquiring similar services.
“It’s the families that get outside of that … the working poor, if you will, who suffer,” he said.
United Way of Lewis County Executive Director Debbie Campbell said the project is important because it addresses documented needs in the community in a collaborative way.
Only about 25 percent of children in Lewis County participate in pre-kindergarten programs, and the cost of child care is often 35 percent of a family’s budget or more.
“”This is a big puzzle that’s all coming together,” she said, later adding, “the pieces can really change the look of downtown Centralia.”
Abbarno noted the facility also has the attention of Cascade Mental Health and other community partners who could add additional layers of benefits for the area’s youths.
“It’s a completely holistic approach to early education,” Chaput added.
The facility, which would be on all major Twin Transit and many Centralia School District routes, represents a rare opportunity for the community partners to work together on what they believe would be a victory for preparing Centralia’s children for education and, down the road, well-paying jobs. That would play a role in improving the economy locally while creating greater prospects for the city’s youngest residents, they say.
As for timing, Abbarno and Chaput estimated that if the city approves the project and joins as a partner, the facility could be built in the next 14 to 18 months, perhaps even in time for the 2021-2022 school year.
“The timing couldn’t be better,” Abbarno said. “I think we could do it.”
The Centralia City Council meeting starts at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Centralia City Hall. Learn more at cityofcentralia.com.
