Menlo Park: Building a new child-care center Menlo Park: Building a new child-care center (July 27, 2005)

** Work is expected to be completed in February.

By Masha Rumer

Special to the Almanac

The project to refurbish and convert the former Menlo Park police station into a city-run child-care center is fitting within budget and running ahead of schedule, city officials say.

About one-third of the construction is complete, said Art Morimoto, the city's supervising engineer. The new Menlo Children's Center is expected to be completed in February 2006, rather than in the summer, as originally projected by the city, he said.

Construction of the $3.4 million project has been in progress since May 2004, following a controversial decision by the City Council to refurbish the old police building rather than construct a new facility to house the child-care program.

The center will occupy 6,200 square feet of the building's ground floor, and is designed for 164 children. The program, will provide two levels of child-care: pre-school, for kids 18 months to 5 years; and school-age, for kids in kindergarten through fifth grade.

The pre-school program will take up half the ground floor, while the school-age program will be housed in the other half of the renovated building and in a modular building that will be placed at the site, said Michael Taylor, a senior recreation supervisor with the city.

Both residents and nonresidents are eligible to enroll their children, with no restriction on income or family size, said Bob Roessler, community services manager. Nonresidents, however, pay 35 percent more than residents.

The city subsidizes indirect costs for the program -- approximately $430,000 per year, he said. The rest of the expenses are covered by fees.
Asbestos and lead

The police building was constructed in the 1950s, and some residents have voiced concern over the presence of asbestos and lead, both health hazards. Lead poisoning can result in stunted physical growth and learning disabilities, according to the National Department of Health and Human Services.

In addition, part of the old police building's 3,200 square foot basement housed a shooting range, which, some critics said, could increase lead-exposure risks.

Mr. Morimoto said that asbestos was originally binding the drywall, but was removed when all the interior walls were taken down. He also said that the lead-based paint has been fully removed.

All bullets have been removed from the basement and the walls have been cleaned of all lead traces, he said.

When the building reopens, the basement area will be used chiefly by the center's employees and for storage. Ed Suarez, the project's consultant coordinator, said that the two floors will have separate air systems and will be divided by a thick slab of concrete flooring.

"Anything that was here is gone," he said. "This will be a nice little building by the time we're done."
Divided opinion

The decision to refurbish the police building caused a divide within the community last year. The previous City Council had approved a brand new center for $6.15 million, which would allow for 16 more children.

One critic of the conversion of the old police station into the child-care center, is former councilwoman Mary Jo Borak, who said that the refurbishing project contradicted the Measure T bond initiative of 2001. That measure, she and other critics say, drew voters by promising them a brand new child-care center.

The old police station, she said, was built during "the worst period in post-World War II architecture in California." The building has "poor design, poor materials and poor construction," Ms. Borak said.

But Mayor Mickie Winkler, who voted in support of refurbishing, said she is pleased with the project and the lower cost. And resident Mary Gilles said she believes the refurbishing for half the cost was "a fiscally responsible thing to do."

Pauline Burke, a mother of three, said she originally opposed the conversion, but now that the project has begun, she "would encourage people to use this new center and support child care facilities in Menlo Park in general."

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