Childcare Center At RCS

A presentation was made today (2024-07-11) to the Downtown Development Authority (DDS) about the proposal to house a childcare center at the Rapid Central Station (RCS). This is an idea which has been under development for some time. The video of the meeting can be found 👉here👈 with this agenda item of the meeting beginning at 1:17:00. It is difficult to imagine a more perfectly urbanist project than a childcare facility provided at a transit center - - and this may be the first such facility in the nation. 👍

The Details

• Among the myriad crisis created by a nation of rapidly rising economic inequality is a severe shortage of childcare; Grand Rapids is estimated to have a shortage ofg ~7,289 child care slots. Wyoming has a shortage of 3,397 and Kentwood a shortage of 1,538. This facility will provide care for 100 children.
• This project has been in the works for over ~2.5 years, and is a partnership between The Rapid, the YMCA, Head Start (Kent County) and GRPS.
• The space being used has been mostly empty since the construction of RCS more thant twenty years ago. The Rapid is providing the space to this project at cost. The available of a facility at cost is critical to allowing this project to 'pencil'.
• Two playgrounds will be constructed; one at ground level and the other on the Rapids's roof. This will be only the second rooftop playground in Michigan. The other rooftop playground is on the roof the Grand Rapids downtown YMCA. The childcare facility will occupy primarily the southwestern corner of the facility.
• The 3,000sq/ft "conference" multi-purpose room at RCS will also be available to the facility for use for parent engagement and community meetings.
• A goal is to have families be able to apply for all or any of the available programs with a single application.
• The capital cost of the project is $7,200,000. All but $700,000 has been raised! The project must be 100% funded before any construction can begin due to financial restrictions on the transit center [the Rapid is not permitted to have any debt on or against the facility]. The Kellog Foundation is the largest supporter of the project.

Trivia: Rapid Central Station was the first LEAD certified bus station in the nation.

Related

• Mobility Update: 2024-02-12, UrbanGR 2024-02-12
• City leaders consider daycare at Rapid Central Station, WOODTV8 2022-04-21
• Part of downtown bus station could be turned into child care center in Grand Rapids, MLIVE 2022-06-08
• New childcare center could be coming to downtown Rapid bus station, FOX17 2022-07-13