SPRINGDALE : Children’s House nears new home
Posted on Sunday, October 26, 2008
SPRINGDALE — The Campaign for Children is pushing through a sluggish economy and landing significant donations for construction of an abuse treatment center and haven to replace an outdated Fayetteville facility.
The capital campaign for Children’s House, which serves children from 18 months to 5 years, has raised $ 2. 5 million of the $ 6. 4 million needed to build a 24, 000-square-foot facility in central Springdale. If two pending gift proposals are fully funded, the agency could have as much as $ 3. 8 million by year’s end. Three more gift requests are in the offing, too.
The capital campaign spearheaded by the Economic Opportunity Agency, the parent organization of Children’s House, recently was boosted by the Springdale City Council, which gave the agency a sixyear extension on completion of its facility on North Lowell Road. The original deadline to begin construction on property previously owned by the city was December. Without the extension, the property would have reverted to city ownership and the agency would have had no place to build.
With the construction deadline moved to 2014, Children’s House now has breathing room to continue raising money. Those leading the effort say that they are confident more cash is out there and that a few contractors seem willing to donate in-kind materials and services to the project.
“Up to this point, everything has been positive,” project manager Ben McLintock said. “In spite of everything that’s happened to the national economy since the second quarter of 2007, we have raised more money in these last two years than in the history of Children’s House.”
The proposed center would replace a cramped, 4, 000-squarefoot building in south Fayetteville. The old building is situated on an acre, whereas the new location will be on 12 acres. The substantial increase in space will allow Children’s House to provide more services to more children, and the building, designed by Hight-Jackson Associates of Rogers, can be expanded later.
“We are building a facility that the abused children of Northwest Arkansas deserve,” McLintock said. “For too long, we have had to use just what we can to get by.”
The expansion will increase service capacity by more than 300 percent, and the agency can start serving children as young as 6 weeks old instead of the current minimum of 18 months. With a new building, Children’s House can help up to 72 children, more than three times the current maximum of 22.
Children’s House, founded in 1978, accepts children referred through the Juvenile Division of Washington County Circuit Court and the state Department of Health and Human Services. Most children receive treatment for two years. The center accepts victims of mental and physical abuse as well as neglect.
The current building in the 2100 block of South Razorback Road has served as the refuge since 1985. It’s useful life is just about up, as nearly every room serves multiple purposes. Educational materials are stored in the children’s bathroom, and the office for the volunteereducation coordinator is used to house classroom materials as well as donated items such as stuffed animals, puzzles and other toys.
The kitchen is too small, as are the dishwasher and refrigerator. The main room serves as the dining area as well as the place where occupational, physical and speech therapy are administered. The laundry room, which houses the freezer, doubles as the pantry.
“Our services have grown,” said Children’s House Director Patricia Jones. “When this building was built, it was for a day-care center for abused children but not as a therapeutic child development and crisis intervention center. Even if we did not want to increase the number of children served, this building is not adequate for what we do.”
The city of Fayetteville owned the property where Children’s House is located and leased the land to the agency for $ 1 per year. In late 2005, Fayetteville sold adjacent property to Biobased Technologies of Rogers, and the sales contract gave Biobased an option — eight years after closing on the first purchase — to buy the acre where Children’s House sits.
Meanwhile, Springdale gave property to the agency in December 2006 with the understanding that if the building was not begun by the end of this year, the donation would revert to the city. Developer Fadil Bayyari originally gave the 12 acres to Springdale in 1999 for use as a park but consented to its use for Children’s House. Bayyari, then as now, stands firmly behind the decision to accommodate the center.
“I thought it was a genuine project, and we love our children,” Bayyari said. “It wasn’t a hard decision for me to make. We need to protect our children as much as we can.”
FEEDBACK:
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online
