The Child Development Center building across from parking Lot L is set to be demolished, with demolition activity expected to begin between now and July.
The CDC building has been inoperable for the past ten years due to deterioration, water leaks and mold.
The demolition is tentatively expected to cost El Camino College between $2.5 million and $3 million.
“If you calculate the cost to rebuild the new CDC or even to repurpose the current site, it’s twice the cost of just tearing down the building and resurfacing the site,” Loic Audusseau, interim vice president of administrative services, said.
Due to the center not generating enough revenue to cover operational expenditures, the board of trustees voted to close the center on October 21, 2013, and by June 30, 2014, the center was officially shut down.
These issues contributed to the decision to demolish the structure, allowing the college to eliminate the associated liability.
When the center first opened in January 1993, it could accommodate 72 children from ages 2 to 5 and 96 throughout a full day, according to a 1991 Los Angeles Times article.
There are currently no plans to construct anything on the site of the CDC building after its demolition.
Despite challenges, the Child Development Club has been working endlessly to establish new collaborations with school districts and community initiatives since the building’s shutdown.
“The amount of work that the childhood education department does for this campus is astounding,” Cynthia Cervantes, a child development professor and adviser of the Child Development Club, said.
Club members and childhood education department faculty have been advocating to stop the demolition and have voiced their concerns about the loss of the facility, which they feel is crucial for community support and student training.
“We just want our students to get the maximum experience as a childhood education student, and we want them to go out into the community and be the best version of themselves as professionals,” Cervantes said.
Since the center closed, the childhood education department and the club have offered alternative resources for the parent community on campus, as well as the community surrounding ECC.
Torrance Unified, Lennox, Lawndale and four private programs are among the school districts involved in these partnerships, with larger school districts still in the planning stages.
However, the department has faced difficulties in developing partnership agreements due to barriers like transportation, insurance requirements, and the lack of control over mentor-teacher selection.
“There have been changes and new requirements for insurance that these programs just will not and cannot agree to because it requires them to pay extra insurance,” said Janice Jefferis, a child development professor.
When the center was open, it offered daycare for students at ECC.
The club designed parent-supporting activities, such as playgroups where parents and kids could play, sing, and read.
Another primary cause for the Child Development Center’s closure was a lack of data, since the college was unable to determine the number of parents among its students, faculty and staff.
“We just want our students to get the maximum experience as a childhood education student, and we want them to go out into the community and be the best version of themselves as professionals,” Cervantes said.
