Groundbreaking for Childhood Education Center at UNK to take place Friday

The University of Nebraska Kearney will be holding a groundbreaking ceremony on the morning of Friday, October 5, for the new Early Childhood Education Center being constructed on campus. The $7.8 million facility will function as a university and communitywide child education center.

The new facility will be named after LaVonne Kopecky Palmbeck, the primary donor. It more than doubles the capacity of the previous facility, holding up to 176 children, from infants to age 6.

Sheryl Feinstein, Dean of the College of Education at UNK, said this new building will be great for their education program.

“This is going to give them, our early childhood students, a chance to get into the facility, to do observations, to do practicums, to do research at the undergraduate and graduate level. It will also be an opportunity for our faculty to do research,” Feinstein said.

The new facility will also allow for some community outreach programs to start as well.

The groundbreaking ceremony will take place near University Village on UNK’s campus at 10 a.m. Central Time this Friday morning.