SoCal’s College of the Desert Completes New Childhood Development Center

By Eric Althoff

INDIO, Calif.—Following a year of construction work, Erickson-Hall Construction Co. has successfully delivered the College of the Desert Childhood Development Center in the desert communities east of Greater Los Angeles. The contractor was present for a ribbon-cutting ceremony on the 18,000-square-foot facility, which is now open. HMC Architects designed the center, which can host nearly 100 children and nearly 50 staff.

The center is home to two classrooms for toddlers as well as two preschool classrooms. The new center also offers an Early Childhood Education (ECE) classroom as well as observation spaces for College of the Desert students to learn more about how to properly run a learning environment for the children there.

In addition to construction of the facility itself, Erickson-Hall’s team also had to upgrade the site so that utilities are now underground, as well as demolish previously existing structures on the site. The contractor also installed new parking lots to help the school as its students and community continue an upward growth.

“We are honored to have been entrusted with overseeing construction of the College of the Desert Indio’s Childhood Development Center,” Mat Gates, president of Erickson-Hall, said of his firm’s work. “This project will have a long-lasting and positive impact on the children, faculty, college students and surrounding community members who will use these classrooms.

“Erickson-Hall is proud to have built a center that not only serves the next generation of teachers but is a functional and safe place for generations of children to come.”

Erickson-Hall has delivered more than $3.5 billion of construction work, much of which has been in the K-12 and higher education sectors. The company serves the construction market in the Southern California region from multiple offices.