Selica Garcia had a great time trying to pedal and pull her friends on new buggy bicycles while playing outside the new Bakersfield College Child Care Center.

The new bikes, along with the new slides and the bouncy floor landing, are just some of the improvements that are offered at the new facility.

“What makes this facility particularly special is that we are able to touch the lives of infants, toddlers, adult students as well as future teachers that can really have an impact on generations to come,” said Dr. Sandra Serrano, Bakersfield College president during the new facility’s dedication Monday morning.

The $4 million facility started constuction December 2000, according to Mary Ann Albanes, director of the center.

“The grant application kind of stayed in limbo for years but it was the changes in welfare reform and the need for child care in order to make welfare reform happen that the funding was finally approved for this project. We were like four community college campuses in California that got the funding for new child development centers,” she said.

The new facility’s improvements include an additional 1,400 square feet, which allows the children to be active. There is an observation room for students to use that has computer access, plus sound systems where instructors or students can hear what’s going on.

A donation from the instructional technology department allows kids to use computers. The children are now able to get an understanding on how a computer system works.

Most of the children at the center are offspring of Bakersfield College students or faculty members. Students are placed on a priority list according to income. The cost per day is around $28 for the state-funded program.

During the dedication, Mayor Harvey Hall spoke about the new center.

“Each one of these children that are here today, have parents that are working in our community,” he said.

“Not only is Bakersfield College once again stepping up to provide a very, very valuable community service, but helping the parents so that they can enhance their quality of life by being able to work at their jobs and know full well that their children each day are being treated with TLC.”