VENTURA : College Dedicates New and Bigger Child-Care Center

Ventura College showed off its new child-care center Wednesday with a dedication ceremony and tours of the $850,000 building.

Built with state funds, the center will accommodate the children of students while they attend classes or work. As space permits, the children of college employees and of the general public will also be accepted.

The 7,782-square-foot building has space for 96 pre-kindergarten children 1 year old and older. When it opens Dec. 2, it will replace the college’s old child-care center that operated for 17 years at a church near the campus.

The old location could accommodate only 40 children and always had a waiting list, said Susanne Purdom, the center’s supervisor. The new center has capacity for more than those on the waiting list. “I think we will have some spaces for people in the community,” she said Tuesday.

Located at the corner of Telegraph Road and West Campus Way, the center has five classrooms, a special tiled room with a drain for messy play, a library, sick room, and a large fenced outdoor play area.

Oxnard College, also part of the Ventura County Community College District, is expected to finish construction of its new child-care center by January and open for spring semester.