HSU Got $8.6 Million to Remodel the Old Trinity Hospital for Kids’ Programs

The following is a press release from Humboldt State University:

HSU has received $8.6 million to rebuild the Trinity Annex to house the University’s Children’s Center. The Child Development Laboratory is also exploring opportunities to relocate to the remodeled space.

This project will allow more children to receive services, improve efficiency of operations and sustainability, open the programs’ current location to development, and reduce the amount of maintenance needed for campus infrastructure.

The renovation of the Trinity Annex, located at 14th and B Street on the south end of campus, is possible thanks to $8.6 million in one-time funding from the State of California Budget allocated by the CSU Office of the Chancellor. The project is expected to be completed in fall 2021. HSU President Tom Jackson, Jr. announced the project at the August 19 Fall Welcome.

The existing Trinity Annex building will undergo extensive work, but will retain the aesthetic of the west, original building. The building will be rebuilt to its current footprint design and complementary to the existing architecture. Built in 1944, the building served as the Trinity Hospital until 1972. The HSU auxiliary purchased the property in 1969 and transferred ownership to the University in 2018. Currently only the east wing is being used, for storage.

Under the University’s proposed plan, the rebuilt space will benefit the Children’s Center by providing a purpose-built children and instructional facility to operate in and provide quality child care. The rebuild will include play yards and better pedestrian and traffic circulation.

There will be a dedicated drop-off point, and the project will improve pedestrian access to the south campus entry with improvements to an existing bus stop, and better integration with the community to the south of the campus boundary.

“We are very excited for this move,” says Children’s Center Director Betsy Wilson. “This new facility will allow us to increase our ability to continue our mission of providing high quality childcare to families in the University community, as well as training opportunities for the many student assistants we employ.”

A report commissioned by HSU found that Early Childhood Education and the mission and values of the University are profoundly interrelated, and that child care is central to campus life for many students, staff, and faculty.

The survey conducted by the Campus Center for Rural Policy (CCRP) found that child care positively affects retention and improves the working environment. CCRP recommended the University help the Children’s Center increase funding and consider child care a basic need of students.

“Faculty and staff at Child Development Department and Child Development Lab are excited about this proposal,” says Hyun-Kyung You, Child Development Lab Program Leader. “Overall, this potentially helps us continue our vision and mission and do even better what we have been proudly doing.”

Established in 1971, the HSU Children’s Center has continually provided affordable, subsidized high quality child care and early education programs for children aged three months to five years of HSU students, staff, and faculty families. Along with providing a broad range of comprehensive services to families, the Children’s Center also employs student assistants as supervised “teachers in training” each semester.

For 50 years, the Child Development Lab, as a part of the Child Development Department, has been a special environment designed to provide a model preschool for children, create a learning center for University students and faculty, support and educate parents of young children, and serve as a research and instructional center at Humboldt State University.