Southside Early Childhood-Let the tilting begin!

November 20, 2013.
Southside Early Childhood center reaches major milestone.

A major step forward as the long awaited tilting of the tilt walls start. While work was suspended today do to the rain, Wednesday marked a real milestone for the project with the first walls being tilted up. The walls have been cast and cured laying down. Now they are being tilted into position. Construction on the building shell should proceed rather quickly as Rhodey Construction and the tilt wall contractor Fenix work through the process of tilting the cast concrete panels. The panel system being used incorporates thin brick and form liner stone as well as integral walls insulation. This is a highly efficient and robust construction assembly which should serve the new SSECC for many years into the future. Southside has been provide service in South St. Louis for over 128 years. The new building will help them continue these incredibly valuable community support for generations to come. Oculus Inc. designed the new facility. Aedifica Case is the structural engineer. CEDC is the Civil. Cole is the landscape Architects.

Link to Fox news story!

Panels along Jefferson

Jefferson side of Corner

Panels along Russel!

View toward South Jefferson

View From Alley

Stabilizers

Looking North on Jefferson!

Design Moving Forward for New SouthSide Early Childhood Center

 

Oculus Inc. is finalizing the design for the new SouthSide Early Childhood Center to be located on South Jefferson in St. Louis Missouri. We are in the final stages of design working with our Construction Management Partner, Rhodey Construction, to create a high value facility to support SouthSide’s ongoing support of our community. The design of the new center remains true to the design presented to the St. Louis Development Corporation some time ago and replaces some dilapidated buildings and a former Taco restaurant that was being used as a bank. Right now, the design and facility planning team is working through the process of determining final systems configuration, making budgets adjustments and working out the last details require for construction. The new center will include licensable classroom space for up to 140 children, full service kitchen for preparing meals from scratch, interior play area and multi-purpose space, playgrounds for infants and toddlers as well as a natural playground for the preschool children.

A key element of the design was investing the new facility with historical attributes and infilling the empty space in the built fabric of the urban environment. To accomplish this task, the building is sited along the street where a series of residential and commercial buildings once stood. The scale, massing, and design of the new facility are designed to make the new facility a good urban neighbor while serving as a key visual anchor to the south city neighborhood.

SouthSide Early Childhood Breaks Ground for New Oculus Inc. designed School!

 

On February 28, 2013, Oculus was proud to participate in the ground breaking for the “New” SouthSide Early Childhood Center and community hub to be located on a site bounded by Russell on the North, South Jefferson on the East and Ann on the South. The new home for SouthSide, years in the making, will provide an outstanding new facility to replace their existing facility. SouthSide reflects the type of project we are the most proud of here at Oculus Inc. They have been an institution serving the under privileged in St. Louis for over a century and with the new facility they will do so long into the future. Oculus Inc. has been working with the leadership of SSECC for over two years, and we are close to seeing the project turn from dream into reality. Everyone in the St. Louis community should be proud to have organizations like SouthSide in our great city.

We at Oculus would also like to say a special thank you to the key contributors and donors who have helped make this project possible. We certainly would like to thank Ameren Corp., Emerson, Edward Jones, Centene, Maritz, Nestle-Purina as well as Deaconess Foundation, Bellwether Foundation, William T. Kemper Foundation, Trio Foundation, Lutheran Foundation of St. Louis, Philpott Family Foundation, The Crawford Taylor Foundation Dana Brown Charitable Trust and a challenge by The J.E and L.E Mabee Foundation.

St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay speaking at the ground breaking!

SouthSide Board members, the mayor and students and parents turning the first shovels of ground.

 

The new facility will provide increased capacity for enrollment, light filled early childhood classrooms, energy efficient operations, community spaces for meetings and family learning workshops. The site also provides outstanding community access while infilling a prime city location which has been under developed for many years. Stay tuned for much more as the project progresses!

Please visit the SSECC website and Blog for more information or you share our passion for Early Childhood education and are looking for ways to contribute to this incredible organization serving the St. Louis Community.

From the left Gary Gray/SSECC Board menber, Ron Reim/Oculus Inc., Ron Unterreiner/Rhodey Construction, & Matt Thole/Oculus Inc.

 

 

Lisa Bell Reim/President of Oculus Inc., Ron Reim/EVP of Oculus Inc., Matt Thole/Job Captain for Oculus Inc.