The Helen Gordon Child Development Center is located at the north end of a long block between SW Market, 12th, Montgomery and 13th with Parking Structure 3 at its the south end. The structure is designed in a Neo-Georgian style townhouse architecture, with Flemish Bond pattern brick walls, flat brick quoins at the corners, and a simplified cornice in brick. There are three floors and a basement. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986 following its nomination by PSU History Professor Gordon B Dodds. In November 2003 an addition was added to the building's western half essentially doubling the usable space. This addition was followed by a major renovation of the the existing structure and playground completed in late 2004.
The Helen Gordon Center provides students, faculty, and staff with high-quality, on-campus, early education and child care. Accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children and working closely with PSU's Graduate School of Education, it also serves as an academic resource for students and faculty in the fields of early childhood education, child and family studies, psychology and related fields.
PSU Building Naming History:
Helen Gordon Child Development Center (HGCDC), 1973-present
Fruit & Flower Day Nursery (F&F), 1973
Fruit & Flower Mission, 1928-1972
Helen Gordon Center opened December 11, 1928 as the Fruit & Flower Day Nursery for the Fruit & Flower Mission and the building has operated as a daycare center ever since. It was designed by the architect Frederick Armbrust Fritsch (1891-1934) of the prominent Pacific Northwest firm, Sutton & Whitney. The Fruit & Flower Mission formed in 1885 and remains the oldest continuing day care center in Oregon while the Center itself is one of the first buildings west of the Mississippi designed expressly for childcare.
By the 1960s urban renewal had changed the character of the neighborhood driving away the low income residents Fruit & Flowers mission it was to serve. Construction of the Stadium Freeway (I-405) made access more difficult for parents and increasingly the families using the nursery were students from Portland State or University of Oregon Dental and Medical schools (now OHSU). These conditions ultimately saw Fruit & Flower relocate to NW 23rd and Irving and sell its building to PSU in 1972.
The Center is named after the longtime Director of the Portland Jewish Community Center Nursery School (now part of the Portland Jewish Academy). Gordon was one of the founders of Head Start in Oregon and lead a 1969 campaign to convince Portland State of the importance offering childcare on campus. Her inspiration followed by sustained student advocacy combined with a sit-in lead to the Student Fee Committee contributing $1,500 to found a program in 1971. Demand for childcare was immediate and the initial licensing for 30 children meant that there was another 176 on the waiting list. As enrollment and demand rapidly increased the program relocated to the annexed Fruit & Flower Nursery in 1973 which was promptly rechristened the Helen Gordon Child Development Center.
Historical Photos of Helen Gordon Child Development Center from the University Digital Gallery