Like a good neighbor, First Pres is there
Harrison Thielen, 2, left, and Seger Stanley, 2, enjoy rolling balls down a cardboard chute as North Idaho College Children's Center lead toddler teacher Laura Marshall observes. First Presbyterian Church is serving as the temporary home of the children's center after its building on the NIC campus was smashed during the Jan. 13 windstorm.
DEVIN WEEKS/Press
Five towering pines landed on the North Idaho College Children's Center, seen here just after the trees fell during the Jan. 13 windstorm. First Presbyterian Church is serving as the temporary home of the children's center while the damage is being repaired.
Photo by Chelsie Shackleford
COEUR d’ALENE — Five massive pines crashed onto the North Idaho College Children's Center building during the Jan. 13 windstorm.
"It was devastating. I don't know how else to describe it," center director Jolie Wenglikowski said Tuesday. "It was heart-wrenching and devastating."
Chris Martin, NIC's vice president for finance and business affairs, said an internal estimate for the damage is between $500,000 and $750,000.
As well as structural damage, a tree hit the sprinkler line and flooded the building with 4 inches of water.
"Immediately, I went to, 'OK, this isn't going to be a 'patch and repair while we’re in there,'" Wenglikowski said. "We knew we had to quickly find an alternative location."
That alternative location was just up the road at First Presbyterian Church.
Wenglikowski and a few colleagues contacted First Presbyterian knowing it used to house a children's center before it was remodeled in 2018. The day after the storm, church administrator Bonnie Piovesan gave them a tour.
"Bonnie was incredibly gracious and showed us around and gave us information," Wenglikowski said. "We thought, 'This could actually work.'"
Church officials swiftly moved to approve a plan and prepare the space for NIC's children, as others worked to draft a lease and receive approval from the city and fire department. NIC agreed to pay for the leased space and cover associated cleaning costs.
On Feb. 5, an open house was held for families to familiarize with the center's temporary space.
On Feb. 8, nearly 40 infant-through-pre-K children, 10 teachers, two cooks and five teacher's aides were welcomed into their home away from home in the church. One Head Start class relocated to the Harding Family Center on 15th Street.
Piovesan said First Presbyterian was honored to be asked to house the children's center.
"We were excited to have space to offer," she said. "We’re overjoyed. Like a lot of places in the past year, the building has been underused because of COVID.
"We thought, 'What a great opportunity, we could be conveniently located for the families and provide what the staff and the kids needed,'" she said.
The children's center building on campus has much work ahead. Martin said the plan is to have it open again for fall semester.
Martin, who is a member of First Presbyterian, said NIC is grateful to the church "for coming through on this."
"First Pres is a great community partner anyway, but in this case, they were a neighbor and we were in need, and they came through for us," Martin said.
Wenglikowski said even First Pres' congregation wants to do more to help families and staff as they navigate the displacement.
"They talked about being a good neighbor, and it's literally the epitome of being a good neighbor," she said. "They have reached out, they have bent over backward, they’ve moved at lightning speed. They are genuinely invested in making sure our family and staff are well taken care of. We’re just so incredibly grateful. This has been such a blessing."
