URBANA – The Urbana school board has narrowed the options for a site for a new early childhood building.

Board members favor either building a new facility on land the district owns around Prairie Elementary School, 2101 E. Washington St., or on the same site as the current Washington Early Childhood School at 1002 N. Broadway Ave.

Urbana architect Riley Glerum and Washington Principal Crystal Vowels talked with the board Tuesday night about the advantages and disadvantages of building either on the current site or on land at Prairie, Thomas Paine or Yankee Ridge elementary schools.

Glerum said Prairie was the best site in terms of the amount of buildable land and frontage along a street. He said the topography at Thomas Paine limits where a new building could be placed, and much of the land near Yankee Ridge is used for ball fields.

Glerum assumed a new building would be 30,000 square feet, with the ability to expand it another 10,000 square feet.

The current location of Washington school is the smallest site, and farthest from where the majority of preschool students live, in southeastern Urbana.

Board member Peggy Patten said she strongly favored building at Prairie, because the location is central to the student population and because the school has a strong neighborhood presence.

Board President John Dimit was concerned about "compromising" an elementary school by taking up too much land at its site for an early childhood building.

If the district were to build a new early childhood building at Prairie, Dimit said, he wanted to see it built so that Prairie and early childhood could share some facilities, such as a gym or kitchen, to lower costs.

The district plans to renovate and expand all its elementary schools and provide them with separate gyms and cafeterias, dedicated fine arts spaces, and central air-conditioning.

Dimit also said he wanted the district to investigate sharing space at a new early childhood building with Urbana's Head Start program.

Of the options presented Tuesday, Dimit said he favored Prairie, "but I'm not sure we've addressed all the alternatives."

The board has discussed several other options over the past few months for replacing the dilapidated Washington school, including closing an elementary school and "repurposing" it for an early childhood center, renovating the current building, or building a new school on a new site not currently owned by the district.

Board member Ruth Ann Fisher thought Prairie was the worst location because of the traffic on Washington Street. She objected to putting an early childhood center at the only elementary school on a four-lane street, and said there are too many side roads putting traffic onto Washington Street to add another driveway there for a new building.

She also didn't want an early childhood center to eliminate any ball fields near Prairie.

Glerum said there is adequate land near Prairie to build a drive to get bus and car traffic off Washington Street for drop-offs and pick-ups.

Although she has strongly objected to putting any more money into the current Washington school building, Fisher said she was beginning to favor building a new facility at that site.

Asked what her staff wanted, Vowels said nearly all of them would prefer to remain at the location on North Broadway, in a new building.

"The staff really loves that location and neighborhood," she said. "We have a connection with that neighborhood. That's where early childhood is. It's on North Broadway."

She said some neighbors volunteer at the school and the teachers take children to nearby Crystal Lake Park and Anita Purves Nature Center. Vowels said she would also like to remain at that location, although there are some disadvantages to it.

At Tuesday's meeting, which lasted to nearly midnight, the board agreed they would no longer consider building on land at either Thomas Paine or Yankee Ridge schools. They will talk again about a site for early childhood at their business meeting on Sept. 21.

Glerum and Vowels have been talking with the early childhood staff about space needs for the programs at the early childhood center, and they plan to present that information to the board in October.