Buried in Christine Des Garennes’ article updating various campus construction projects in Sunday’s News-Gazette was the revelation that plans for a “park and ride” childcare facility at the South Research Park have vanished into thin air:
“….building such a facility in the park would have been too costly and required too much space, (Charles) Zukoski, (vice chancellor for research), said. It’s likely the park will feature a tradition day care run by a national chain instead of a park-and-ride center.”
I say buried because many were counting on this new facility to be a viable option for UI staff with young children. The lack of on-campus childcare has been a hot-button one for years. The idea behind the facility was threefold — it was help alleviate traffic congestion on campus; it would be convenient for working families; and it would have provided another parking option.
As recently as February, a News-Gazette article stated that the “park and ride” facility would be 48,000 square feet. That suggests to me that it was beyond the design stage.
This project has had backing from all levels of government. The city of Champaign was kicking in tax and other incentives to support the entire “south campus master plan.” In December of 2004, Sen. Dick Durbin announced a $750,000 grant for the center, saying:
“This is not only going to reduce congestion in the Champaign-Urbana area,” Durbin said. “It’s also going to give peace of mind to families” with day care they can count on. “It’s a great combination.”
And according to the N-G, the much-maligned MTD had received a $1.25 million federal grant for the facility in 2005.
Added together, that is a lot of money. So what happened? And why isn’t this a bigger story? Another one bites the dust …
4 responses so far ↓
Jim Mall // September 26, 2006 at 9:42 am
I was wondering the same thing. Sounded like bait and switch to me.
Beth // September 30, 2006 at 1:52 pm
That’s really… obnoxious
I was kind of looking forward to that getting built in the area, since it’s right near where my husband works. And… what *did* happen to that grant money? Sounds like a good question for… some enterprising reporter…
moving around // October 2, 2006 at 8:41 pm
The answer to the question of what happened is that the developer Peter Fox decided he did not want transit involved and decided to build a child care center on his own. The transit district is now looking for a new development partner to build a park and ride daycare facility.
When you receive a federal grant for a specific type of project you cannot use it for something else. There is no hidden story and the grant money cannot be used without federal approval. The total amount of the grant was 1.8 million.
lbotp // October 4, 2006 at 2:19 pm
Thanks moving … it sounds like you are in the know. Obviously you can’t just use funds for a grant anywhere you want. I think it’s shoddy journalism that this wasn’t addressed in that article, and I think there are a lot of people who care about this issue and would be interested in knowing what is exactly is going on.
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