The Children’s Assessment Center is passing around this sketch showing the huge expansion the child-sexual-abuse resource center is planning at 2500 Bolsover in the Rice Village, just east of Kirby. (The view is along Bolsover, with Kirby at the far left.) The existing 55,000-sq.-ft. building, shown on the far right, opened in 1998. An additional 75,000 sq. ft. of space will go in a 4-story structure that’ll sidle up to it and connect to the existing floors. A new conference and training center will fit inside, along with space for the 44 partner agencies the CAC works with. To make room for the addition, the existing 330-car parking garage will be torn down; a new 420-car garage will go up along the Kirby side, right behind the new Frost Bank built on a portion of the former Village Plaza Shopping Center.
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Gensler, the project’s architect, hasn’t released any additional drawings or site plans yet. The CAC says it’s reached the halfway point of the $30 million it needs to raise for construction. Once it’s complete, the Village facility will rank as one of the largest of its kind in the country; the CAC works to prevent the sexual abuse of children and treats more than 5,000 victims each year.
- Reasons for Expansion [Children’s Assessment Center]
- Previously on Swamplot: Children’s Kirby Assessment: Bike Barn Site Bank and Drive-Thru, Waking the Mattress Giant: CAC Takes Village Plaza To Assess the Children
Rendering: Children’s Assessment Center. Photo of existing building from Dunstan and Kelvin: Swamplot inbox
jfc, are there really that many sexually abused children in Houston? I already thought that place was enormous for what it is.
I worked with Child Advocates one year on their art auction and still donate. The abuse statistics are horrible. I’m delighted and proud to see Houston step up.
I don’t know for sure, of course, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it handles the whole of Southeast Texas.
Not sure whether there’s that much demand, but there’s got to be good money in it. After all, who can say no to the treatment of sexually abused children? Who would do that? A monster? Why haven’t YOU contributed yet!?
Besides, fundraising from people who don’t understand what an organization does on a day-to-day basis and that have no basis from which to judge good performance are mostly just seeking excuses to jump on the right bandwagon. The facilities should be fashionable. Most donors aren’t anal retentive enough to think about the opportunity cost that that entails and will simply assume that the quality of treatment is commensurate with the architecture.
Think about it. There are lots of psychiatrists that operate out of Class C office space, but how many non-profits are there? Think about the difference between a for-profit hospital and a non-profit hospital. Why does the Memorial Hermann brand of hospitals wear a crown? Why does Methodist light up the night sky?
$$$
No ground-floor retail? Unbelievable!
Zippy, are you kidding me? There are thousands of sexually abused children in Harris County and the areas served by the CAC. I am proud that Houstonians have donated their time and money to make this place happen. For every media case you see on tv, there are hundreds of other cases not being reported. Some (many) people do horrific things to children. The CAC is a haven for the abused and their families, who sometimes have nowhere else to go. It is essential to our community and many times is the primary reason the abusers are caught. Every service that these families need is housed in this building and it is busting at the seams. There are doctors, social workers, counselors, law enforcement, and CPS all crammed into this building. I am now stepping off my soap box.
Don’t get me wrong — I’m not throwing any stones at CAC. Rather, I’m shocked and saddened that there is so much need for child sexual abuse services in our community.
Yes, unfortunately, there are lots of kids who are abused. The space is desperately needed as they need closed-circuit interview rooms to videotape kids’ testimonies. They also need separate closed-circuit interview rooms for the accused; but they have 2 separate entrances for them so the two don’t meet. Lastly, they also need more medical exam rooms. They do good work at the center and I’m glad they’re getting much needed funds to build out much needed space.
I was soooo annoyed when they originally built the building there just because the county (or city?) already owned the land. The CAC is not the best use of that very expensive land and it blocks the natural growth of the Village. The county should have sold it to a developer and reaped the sale money plus property tax rewards. The CAC could be anywhere — why there???
I was a court appointed guardian ad litem for years with Child Advocates, and I’ve been in that building many times. There is a huge need for the facility and they’re out of room. They do really good work and don’t get enough credit for it. I just wish the building were somewhere else.
Let the scorn begin…
No, Bill, I agree with you 100%.
I scorn the “scorners”, if any.