St. David’s Center for Child & Family Development finalized the purchase of the former YWCA building at 1130 Nicollet in Downtown Minneapolis in July 2024.
Administrative teams moved in in the fall and big and important work to develop a master plan for our new child and family service center began. The project will be completed in a multi-phase renovation. We’re excited to be partnering with Pope Design Group, McGough Construction, and NTH in this process. Our vision for this building is to serve more children and families in need of early education, assessment, intervention, and to support and contribute to the revitalization of downtown Minneapolis as well. As always, we’re honored to collaborate with children and families to create the society we truly believe in: one where all of us can thrive!
We have plenty of work ahead of us to ensure we can serve the needs of even more children and families across the Twin Cities. Consider this page a resource to stay on top of our transformation.
Questions, concerns, or comments, please feel free to email St. David’s Center at construction@stdavidscenter.org
May 19, 2025
Big news this week—the OT Gyms are officially open today! The current equipment storage space in the large studio will be transformed into a dedicated space for Therapeutic Rec, with programming set to begin in early June.
Beyond that, major construction milestones have been reached! The OT Gyms, gymnasium partition, and classroom restroom projects are all finished. The final piece of Phase 1 is the installation of the ramp acrylic panels. We’ll keep you posted on when the ramp railing acrylic safety panels will be installed—this process will take several weeks and require temporary closures of sections of the ramp.
Exciting changes are happening—stay tuned for more updates!
April 4, 2025
The big news this week is that the Autism Day Treatment teams moved into their new rooms! Their new spaces are the two rooms directly inside the first floor from the parking lot. Not a lot of noticeable construction work was done this week, with electrical inspections taking place and steel work in the ceilings in the lower-level Occupational Therapy Gyms being the main work. But more significant work will start up again next week. Work continues on the Gymnasium and our Occupational Therapy gyms.
March 21, 2025
With the classroom and restroom renovation complete, the YWCA rooms were moved to the upper level this week. Construction on the gym wall partition is in full swing this week. If you haven’t seen the giant beam that was installed in the gyms, swing by the large window near the front desk to take a look! The beam is 16,000 pounds and was installed over the weekend
Construction on the OT Gyms will continue in the next 10 days, depending on when the steel supports are fabricated and ready.
March 15, 2025
With the classroom project finished, the YWCA will be moving into the new rooms and will officially begin in those rooms next Monday, March 17. Then we will take one week to clean, paint, and prepare those rooms for our ADT classrooms, moving into them with our clients on Monday, March 24. The gym partition wall construction has started and will continue to mid-April.
This Week
- YWCA is moving into the upstairs classrooms
- The gym partition wall project began
What’s Next
- We’ll prepare the first floor classrooms for our ADT program
- The gym partition wall project will continue, with steel beams being installed this weekend
Jan. 9, 2025
We’re excited to announce the beginning of construction and renovation of 1130 Nicollet Mall on January 13, 2025. We are looking forward to beginning the next phase of our work with our long-time construction partner McGough. Construction will take place in three phases over the next several years.
The building will remain open during our transformation, and typical construction hours will be from 6 a.m. – 2 p.m. most days.
Phase 1 begins this month and lasts through early summer. Projects include:
- Added safety measures to the central circulation ramp.
- Adding two new Occupational Therapy Gyms.
- Adding a full two-story divider in the Gymnasium to allow for more children to use the space at the same time.
- A restroom will be added to the two upper level classrooms, turning these into ECE classroom spaces
UPDATE: as of Feb. 21 the classroom project is nearing completion! Take a look behind the scenes in the images above.
Phase 2 is likely to begin in 2026. Projects include:
- An enhanced entry experience including a secure and welcoming lobby.
- Added Family Therapy & Assessment Rooms.
- A new drop-off entry along 12th street
- Four new day treatment rooms
- Updated outdoor play equipment on the rooftop playgrounds
Phase 3 is likely to begin in 2027. Projects include:
- Further expansion of treatment services, including four new day treatment rooms and three new Occupational Therapy Speech & Therapy Rooms.
- Building a new family resource service area.
- Nutrition, feeding and teaching kitchen on the lower level.
- Other updates throughout building common spaces.
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