ABOVE: Shea Ripley of Building Blocks and Deb Barnes of Lakeview stand inside the nearly complete child care space at Lakeview Methodist Health Care Center in Fairmont.

FAIRMONT– Years of patient planning and fundraising are coming to a culmination as the new, bigger Building Blocks Learning Center and Child Care space inside Lakeview Methodist Health Care Center in Fairmont is almost complete. The project, which really started back in 2020, will provide space for roughly 100 children.

Building Blocks originally moved into Lakeview’s former space in 2017. When a few years later Lakeview decided to build a new skilled nursing facility, it included space for a new and bigger child care center in its plans.

However, when the after effects of Covid 19 caused the cost of building materials to increase, Lakeview was forced to focus on finishing the skilled nursing facility, leaving only a shell of the new child care space, which it had already put $1.25 million into. The space sat mostly empty while Lakeview fundraised for the remaining funds, about $1 million.

Many donations, both big and small, poured in over the years and then in October of 2024 the Board of Directors at Lakeview stepped up and said it was willing to fund the rest of the project to get it done. Work started again in earnest in March of this year.

ABOVE: Signs on the windows of the new Building Blocks Learning Center and Child Care in Fairmont announce that the space is almost done.

Lakeview Administrator Deb Barnes said that as of Oct. 1, Building Blocks has come under Lakeview’s umbrella, meaning the for-profit child care center is now included under Lakeview’s non-profit status and ownership.

Long-time Building Blocks director, Shea Ripley, said, “this opens up a lot of grant opportunities and funding opportunities. It was the smartest way to go.”

The status change also means full benefits for Building Block’s 23 employees, which they did not have before.

“Rachel Spencer and Mae Dewar-Aust have been busy on-boarding the 23 employees to become Lakeview Methodist employees,” Barnes said.

The number of employees is expected to increase, too, with the additional child care spots the space will allow for.

“Every age has to have so many staff for them,” Ripley explained.

She said there are two people already hired and “on deck” for when they get into the new space and that they will be hiring for a few more part-time to help fill in after that.

That time is coming up soon as Barnes said, “Everything has been funded and it’s basically complete. It’s basically ready to go other than a few minor things.”

Lakeview’s Building Services Director, Isaiah Johnson, said that everything building-wise is done, including electrical and plumbing work. The general contractor on the project was United Builders out of Blue Earth. Electrical was done by DeWar Electric and Midwest IT and Olympic Fire Protection also worked on the project.

The city inspection is done, but now they’re waiting to have a few other inspections done, including one by the fire marshal and one by the Department of Children, Youth and Families.

ABOVE: The new child care space is waiting to be filled with equipment and children following some remaining inspections.

“Everything is of course tedious,” Barnes said. “But right now, the state does have some leniency because they know how difficult it is to keep child care centers open.”

She said that since Ripley has a license to operate Building Blocks, it will be allowed to move into the new building under that license while things with Lakeview’s license are finalized.

“We’re in that process, but we won’t have to wait until we as Lakeview are licensed,” Barnes said.

With that said, there are still a lot of moving parts. Barnes said they are unsure when the fire marshal will come to complete the inspection, but after that, it’s just a matter of moving in the toys and equipment from Building Block’s current location inside Lakeview’s “old” campus building, and into the new skilled nursing facility next door.

There is a lot more space to fill now and Ripley said they’ve received a lot of donated items already, which they appreciate. She said they could still use some shelving.

The new child care space features an infant room for those six weeks to 12 months, a toddler room for those 12 months to age 2, a junior preschool room for 2 to 3-year-olds and a preschool room for 4 to 5-year-olds. They each have a few bathrooms, plus sinks.

ABOVE: Some of the toys that have already been moved into the new child care space.

A new feature of the facility is a drop-in room which Ripley hopes will be an asset for employers in the near future.

In its current space, Building Blocks is full with 45 children, which is all it has capacity for. In the new space they’ll be able to take 97 children.

“We haven’t opened up a waiting list yet. Once we get a better idea of when we’ll be in the new space we’ll open the flood gates,” Ripley said. “We’ve been getting multiple calls daily looking for care.”

Barnes says it remains to be seen what they will do with the space Building Blocks has occupied in the former Lakeview building.

“We have put all of our energy into this space. It kind of depends on the whole building,” she said.

As for what she’s most looking forward to, Ripley pointed out that the new space is specifically tailored to children.

“Rather than trying to make a space work for us, we’re able to just work in this space. That will be huge,” Ripley said.

She also pointed out that there is a generous amount of windows looking into the space so the Lakeview residents can peek in on the kids.

“We’ll definitely start doing more activities with the residents and I’m really excited for that,” she said.

Barnes added that the residents at Lakeview have been very curious and engaged in the Building Blocks project.

“We’re super excited to be at this point. Its been a long time coming and we’re so grateful for all of the generous donors that have gotten us to this point,” Barnes said.