TLC celebrates new location with Charles City child care open house

By Travis Fischer, tkfischer@charlescitypress.com

TLC: The Learning Center held an open house to celebrate the grand opening of its new location on Tuesday, Aug. 15.

The culmination of years of effort to raise funds and renovate, the child care center is finally ready to begin its first school year in what was formerly a portion of the old middle school building on Grand Avenue.

“It’s really a celebration and way for people to see who we are,” said TLC Director Pam Ost.

Parents and grandparents flocked in to look at all the changes that have been made to the building.

“I think everybody is curious,” said TLC board member Scott Niles.

The plan to expand TLC into a larger facility to meet an increasing need for space began in 2019. Running through all the normal struggles of a major building renovation along with the additional complications of the COVID-19 pandemic, the grand opening celebration has been a long time coming.

The new facility expands the child care’s capacity from 93 kids to a maximum of 179. Already the organization is anticipating about 140 kids once school starts.

“It’s been a long process, but we’re here,” said Ost. “We’re very thankful to the entire community and everyone that helped to get us to this point.”

Of special focus for the open house was Karen’s Kids Corner, a room dedicated to the memory of former board member Karen VanDerLee.

“She was just a really big part of TLC in the early years,” said Board of Directors President Lisa Garden.

VanDerLee’s legacy was a crucial component to see the building project to completion.

As the timeline for the building renovations winded down, the TLC board found itself about $275,000 short on construction funds. VanDerLee’s father, Bill Fenholt, donated the money needed to get the project across the finish line in memory of his late wife, Doris, and in honor of their daughter.

“Bill was very supportive of everything education,” said Garden. “He wanted to make sure this continued.”

Karen’s Kids Corner is the first room off the entrance to the building and will host school-age kids in the facility.

Along with celebrating the opening of the new building, special recognition was given to Shirley Kelly, who was among the first board members during TLC’s inception 25 years ago.

“Shirley was a facilitator and faithful scribe when TLC was just a vision,” said Garden, in an emotional tribute.

Dedicating countless hours and serving many roles over the years, including a summer as the child care center’s interim director, Kelly is happy to see how far TLC has grown as it settles in to its new location.

“It was just a dream that we had,” said Kelly. “We turned it into a reality.”