The need for more affordable child care in Durango is dire, but additional help is on the way. Tri-County Head Start’s new Durango building is on track to open during summer 2026, said Lisa Stone, executive director.
Experienced child care facility builder FCI Constructors broke ground on June 6 at 1917 East Third Ave., formerly a parking lot, directly south across 20th Street from the current Head Start building and directly west of the Durango Public Library.
The new building will provide capacity for 68 to 85 early learners, depending on whether the need for more toddler or preschooler care is greatest, Stone said.
Head Start in Durango is currently able to provide 65 to 70 slots, again based on whichever cohort has the greater need for care.
“If you have preschoolers, then your ratio to teacher is actually higher. And if you have toddlers, you have fewer students in the classroom,” Stone said.
The ratio of teachers to preschoolers is different from that of teachers to toddlers. She said state licensing requirements mandate Head Start has one teacher per four toddlers and one teacher for every 10 preschoolers.
She said she expects to start accepting registrations for children in February.
“We really feel that this facility is one of many solutions that are going on in the community right now to address not only child care, but affordable, quality child care,” she said.
The project is a collaboration between Head Start, Tracy Reynolds of Reynolds + Ash Associates, the city of Durango – which committed to a 30-year land lease with Head Start at the site – and the regional and U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Head Start offices, the city said in a news release.
City Planner Lily Oswald said the groundbreaking was a milestone event.
“City Council provided clear direction to make the best use of city-owned assets, and this site is a perfect example of that commitment in action,” she said. “Although this was not a city-initiated project, the city is proud to have played a part in making this vision a reality. The partnership with Tri-County Head Start and Reynolds Ash + Associates represents exactly the kind of collaboration that makes our community stronger and provides resources for families who need them the most.”
A new building for Head Start has been a long time coming. Stone compared making the most of the current building to putting lipstick on a pig in a previous interview.
The project proposal for Head Start, however, had a rocky start – residents protested a former plan to build the new child care building that included demolishing the current Head Start building and building affordable housing on the site.
Residents of the East Third Avenue neighborhood and members of the Library Neighborhood Association were determined to make the city meet their demands to split the Head Start and housing project into two separate proposals, and to allow for a public review process of each proposal separately.
On Aug. 16, 2024, one day after a neighborhood meeting with then Mayor Jessika Buell where residents vented their concerns for traffic plans and project transparency, the city announced it would split the project into two separate proposals.
Resident Mary Ellen Finley said the city’s decision was a victory for the democratic process.
Some residents, including Finley, expressed lingering concerns about certain details for the new Head Start building and the now separate affordable housing proposal. Some residents said they faced backlash from their peers for being protective of their neighborhood’s character.
cburney@durangoherald.com
