Parc Center for Disabilities unveils its new children’s center

In April, the very same month in which the Parc Center for Disabilities celebrates its 73^rd anniversary, the St. Petersburg development and education center will mark another milestone: The opening of its brand-new, state-of-the-art Children’s Services Center.

Named for local philanthropists Tom and Mary James, whose $2 million donation was key in getting Parc’s fundraising campaign close to the finish line, the 14,000-square-foot facility was dedicated with speeches and a ribbon cutting Wednesday afternoon.

It will officially open in mid-April.

“This represents a milestone event for our community,” Parc President and CEO Michelle Detweiler told the Catalyst before the ceremony. “It’s not just a new building; it’s an expansion of services, and it’s something that’s very needed for the population that we service.”

Detweiler, St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch, State Representative Linda Cheney and Chamber of Commerce President Chris Steinocher delivered brief remarks before the ceremonial ribbon was cut.

Cutting the ribbon: From left, St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch, State Rep. Linda Cheney, Parc CEO Michele Detweiler, Mary James, Tom James and Chris Steinocher, President of the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce, and Connie Koons.

The new facility (3151 73^rd Street N.) will house the Discovery Learning Center preschool, Family Focus Early Intervention Services and Caregiver Relief Services, serving children from two months to 5 years old.

The Early Intervention Services program is an outreach model in which specialists work one-on-one with children in their natural environment to prepare them for kindergarten. The new center also features three specially designed playgrounds.

Since 1953, Parc has served both children and adults.

READ MORE: Advocacy, action are second nature for Parc CEO Michelle Detweiler

Detweiler said the need for a new classroom building on Parc’s six acres was only too obvious, even before she was named President (a move up from Chief Operating Officer) in 2021. She remembers discussing it with her fellow board members.

“I said ‘We either do this, or we get out of the business of serving children with developmental disabilities. Because we can’t do it like we’re doing it.’”

The project was top of mind for an entire decade. “Our original school was built in the ‘60s and is very outdated,” Detweiler explained. “It’s not ADA approved. But we were grandfathered in because we’d been there so long. But the classrooms are small. A child’s wheelchair can’t maneuver in those classrooms very easily.”

It does not represent, she said, “operational excellence.”

The “Raise the Roof” campaign began in 2021 with a $10 million goal, to raze the old administrative services building and adult arts center, elsewhere on the property (it looks out on Tyrone Boulevard) and build anew.

The James gift was more than enough to get the plans drawn up and the bulldozers moving, and today Parc has raised $8.5 million. And the roof has been well and truly raised.

Detweiler praises the “collaborative effort” of the donors, both public and private, the State of Florida and the City of St. Petersburg, all of which have contributed (and continue to). “It takes a village. I always say that. It takes a village.”

Once the new center opens, the old school building will be re-purposed.

“I believe in giving back to the community,” said Tom James, Chairman Emeritus of Raymond James Financial. “That was always one of my primary goals in building a corporation, to be a good participant in the community.”

Parc’s mission, he said, spoke to him. “We’ve got a lot of good missions around, but this is a great one. One that helps children. We have to convince the community how important this place is, to take care of those who aren’t capable of taking care of themselves.”