Long-vacant Newark site debuts childhood education facility

Evolving from community concerns about the lack of quality early childhood education options in Newark’s South Ward, a project to fulfill those needs recently celebrated its debut.

The Clinton Hill Early Learning Center held a grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony June 1 with Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, local dignitaries and several nonprofits that had a hand in the project there to mark the occasion.

The Maher Charitable Foundation, La Casa de Don Pedro, Clinton Hill Community & Early Childhood Center Inc., and Clinton Hill Community Action drove the initiative, according to New Brunswick’s DIGroup Architecture, which designed the building. Jersey City’s Dresdner Robin, meanwhile, engineered the work.

Clinton Hill’s Pre-K programs and La Casa’s Early Head Start programs will cohabitate the building at 30 Demarest St. in Newark.

A collaborative effort

DIGroup designed a light-filled, two-story facility to transform the long-vacant blighted site into a 40,000-square-foot facility focused on learning and early childhood development.

Now, Clinton Hill Early Learning Center features 16 classrooms – capable of offering educational and extended child care services for nearly 200 children, from birth to 5-years-old – a secure inner courtyard, a multipurpose room with capacity for 200 that is available for community use, a family child care resource room and a commercial kitchen.

Dresdner Robin provided services including site and zoning analysis, stormwater management, environmental assessment and remediation, professional engineering, and more. Associate Director of Land Development Mark Vizzini said his work on the project dates back to its start in 2018.

“[W]e are thrilled to watch the center come to life,” he said in a statement. “Not only does it include several top-tier exterior elements that beautify the site, but it has also expanded the early education system in Newark, providing additional options for the youth.”

Part of Dresdner Robin’s work included providing expert planning testimony, which helped lead to the required site plan approval, in addition to design and traffic-pattern recommendations for along Demarest Street. Drop-off, pick-up and parking areas were crafted with “traffic-calming measures in mind,” the firm said, like speed tables and raised crosswalks.

The Early Learning Center also features a dual-purpose playground crafted by the firm and stormwater management systems. Dresdner Robin said it handled required child care environmental investigations and reporting for the project, overseen by a licensed remediation professional, to obtain child care licensure from the state.

“Our mission was to create a sustainable and safe outdoor space for our young students,” said Sam Crane of the Maher Charitable Foundation. “Through its team of talented engineers and designers, Dresdner Robin exceeded our expectations and ultimately helped us make a positive impact on the Newark community.”

While the space was being worked on, Dresdner Robin said it completed a temporary facility on an adjacent site. Students moved from that location to the new Early Learning Center in March.

“My hope,” said DIGroup Principal in Charge Richard Alderiso in a statement, “is that through our collaborative process and thoughtful design, we have created a safe and luminous environment that enriches the lives of curious children, hard-working educators and positively impacts the community.”