After pandemic delay, Farmington campus opens expanded child care center

Courtesy / UMF Gov. Janet Mills and U.S. Sen. Susan Collins are joined by preschool students Gordon Bell and Henry Schoeppner and University of Maine at Farmington early childhood education student Violette Beaulieu in cutting the paper ribbon to formally open the new UMF Sweatt-Winter Child Care and Early Education Center. Rep. Scott Landry and UMF early childhood education student Bre Maxim are behind them. 

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By Laurie Schreiber

It took a few years and a pandemic interruption, but an expanded child care center at the University of Maine's Farmington campus has finally opened.

After more than three decades serving families in western Maine in a small space on campus, the nationally accredited Sweatt-Winter Child Care and Early Education Center moved into a 10,000-square-foot facility at 274 Front St. in Farmington.

The facility is double the size of the center’s previous location, expanding affordable access to high-quality child care — including, for the first time, services for infants and toddlers. There are also early childhood education degree and certificate programs in support of critical state workforce needs.

Courtesy / UMF

The 10,000-square-foot facility is double the size of the center’s former location at 240 Main St.

“Most families in western Maine need two incomes, which makes affordable high-quality early child care a necessity for both families and employers,” said Joe McDonnell, UMF’s president.

“Through Sweatt-Winter, UMF provides that much needed child care, and we also prepare our students to become early child care professionals.”

The University of Maine System purchased the single-story building, on 3.2 acres, in 2019.

The property, a former call center, is in a convenient downtown location and has parking and good visibility. The building features ample windows, an open-concept interior, and proximity to campus.

Sweatt-Winter serves the community at large.

The original goal was to be in the building by June 2020. Instead, the $3.1 million renovation moved forward in 2023.

Courtesy / UMF

Exterior wallboard is seen being installed last year in the new center’s entrance and waiting area.

“Parents across Maine need high-quality, reliable, and affordable care and education for their children — not only so that they can go to work, but so that they have the peace of mind that their children can learn and grow in a safe and nurturing place,” said Mills.

Funding for the major renovation of the former call center and related early childhood educator workforce development was provided by the University of Maine System from voter-approved state bonds in 2018, $1 million from the Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan and $1 million in congressionally directed spending.

Mills and Collins were joined last week by Franklin County preschool students to cut the hand-painted paper ribbon.

“This is going to make a real difference in Franklin County,” said Collins.

The facility includes spacious, well-lit classrooms designed to support the learning and development of preschoolers and school-age children. It features two new classroom spaces for infant and toddler care, creating 20 new slots.

Sweatt-Winter serves as a lab school for UMF students majoring in early childhood education or early childhood special education who will be completing much of their coursework and hands-on teaching experience there.

An undergraduate/graduate student classroom allows enrollment in UMF’s early childhood degree programs to expand by at least 20% in support of student and employer demand. Observation areas are placed throughout the center to help pre- and in-service teachers see and understand children’s play, behavior and learning styles, and refine their own teaching practices.

Extensive outdoor playgrounds funded through a $100,000 gift from the Lennox Foundation were designed to meet the developmental needs of each age group while also supporting nature-based education.

Additional features include a nursing room for mothers, art and multi-purpose space, office space and a kitchen/laundry area.

Two Portland companies, CHA Consulting Inc. and Optimum Construction Inc., provided the design and construction for the center.

The pandemic exposed a dire shortage in early childhood professionals in Maine, Charles Woodworth, executive director of the Greater Franklin Economic and Community Development, noted in a separate rerlease.

“We really wanted to create a child care and early education center with a home-like environment for children and their families,” said Patricia Williams, professor of early childhood education and member of the Sweatt-Winter building committee.