Elma Early Childhood Center Groundbreaking

A groundbreaking was held for the addition onto the east side of the Elma Early Childhood Center June 1st. Pictured here are EECC board members Scott O'Brien & Taylor Smith, EECC Director Sarah Brophy and ECC Board President Tom Platte.

A groundbreaking was held for the addition onto the east side of the Elma Early Childhood Center June 1st. Pictured here are EECC board members Scott O'Brien & Taylor Smith, EECC Director Sarah Brophy and ECC Board President Tom Platte.

This past week the Elma Early Childhood Center broke ground on their day care addition.

The day care will be adding a larger infant room onto the existing day care and re-purposing the current infant room into a larger three year-old-preschool. The addition to the day care will expand its capacity up to 16 infants and provide for more ease in separating infants, toddlers and school age kids. The day care addition is part of the Elma Community Complex project, a multi-phase community betterment project focused on expanding medical, day care, and library services for the area and is being done in phases as funding allows. The new medical clinic building was completed and opened earlier this year and the renovations on the multi-purpose community room in the former gymnasium began this spring. The walls are studded up, electrical and plumbing is roughed in and we are waiting for the sprinkler system to be installed which will be followed up with sheet rock. The handicap accessible room with kitchenette will be used for library programming for adults and youth, community meetings and gatherings (city council meetings, family gatherings, etc). Capacity will be around 50 people. The goal is to have this available for community use later this summer. The final phase is renovating the remaining portion of the gym into a library and city clerk’s office and then finishing the parking lot and landscaping. Fundraising continues as the goal is to raise $1.2 million to pay for all phases of the project. To date, $919,403 has been raised and committed through private donations, grants, and fundraisers.

For more information please contact Shannon Gebel, Elma City Clerk, at 641-393-2543 or elmacityclerk@gmail.com.  You may also visit elmaia.com and the Elma, Iowa Facebook page for more information or contact committee members. 

“I couldn’t be more excited to see this progress in what is going to be our multi-purpose community room,” shared Renee Burke Elma Library Director. “Our current meeting room seats 12 while this will accommodate nearly 50. It will be fully handicap accessible with kitchenette and technology. This will be useful for library programs but also a place for employers to train employees and a place for family gatherings such as bridal showers and reunions. The location is an asset because it next to our beautiful library and park. We hope to begin using it this summer!”


Posted: June 7, 2021 in Community Complex