The Johns Hopkins University has begun construction of a new Early Learning Center to replace its current modular facility at Wyman Park Drive and Remington Avenue.
The two-story replacement is rising on a wooded parcel at 115 West University Parkway near San Martin Drive, where the university’s Carnegie Building stood from 1960 to 2020.
The current learning center is being relocated because it occupies part of the site where Hopkins plans to construct its proposed Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (DSAI) Institute, a two-building facility scheduled to open in the summer of 2029.
During a community meeting this week about the DSAI project, Lee Coyle, Hopkins’ Senior Director for Planning and Architecture, said the university is aiming to complete the new Early Learning Center by the first quarter of 2026, so it can take down the current facility to make way for construction of the DSAI Institute.
The Early Learning Center is managed by Downtown Baltimore Child Care and accommodates up to 94 children ranging in age from infant to preschooler. According to its website, it is open to all but priority admission is available to “Johns Hopkins parents.” The university’s Office of Benefits and Worklife serves as an operational partner and liaison between the university and the learning center.
According to Coyle, the 26,000-square-foot replacement facility has been designed to accommodate up to 162 children – a 69 percent capacity increase over the current building. The architect is Page of Washington, D. C., and Whiting-Turner Contracting Company is the construction manager.
During the community meeting this week, Coyle said Hopkins won’t close the current facility until the new one opens. He said the university wants to have a seamless transition, in which the existing center closes one day and the new one opens right afterwards.
“The idea is to have a continuum of service, not interrupting the service for people who use it,” he said. Then as soon as the new building opens, “we’ll begin removal of the existing Early Learning Center.”
