Capitol Campus child-care center could get reprieve

Parents who object to a Capitol Campus child-care center being moved during construction of a new state Department of Information Services headquarters have won concessions.

Department officials have asked bidding contractors to consider the cost and time that would be involved in leaving the center in place during construction, agency spokeswoman Joanne Todd said Tuesday. The decision came after discussions with other agencies.

"That's just something we didn't have in the original (bid request), and we want them to let us know," state budget director Victor Moore said. "We believe it won't delay the preparation of the bids, and it's a fairly simple question we put to them."

Parents of the approximately 75 children cared for at the Capitol Campus Child Care Center objected to the department's plan to knock down the center in May and relocate the children to a temporary setting, most likely at Perry Street on Olympia's west side.

A top budget writer, Democratic Sen. Karen Fraser of Thurston County, said parents have a valid concern that the center might never return to Capitol Campus if it moves.