Chelsea Piers to Include Childcare Center, Preschool

The 400,000 square foot Chelsea Piers sports complex at the former Clairol site in Stamford will include a 6,000 square foot childcare center and preschool.

As per a , the “CP Kids Early Childhood Education Center will have six rooms, each age appropriately designed to provide children ages 3 months to 5 years with unique and dynamic opportunities to grow physically, cognitively, socially and emotionally."

This isn’t just babysitting: “CP Kids will offer a comprehensive in-classroom curriculum led by experienced and nurturing early childhood educators,” the release states.

As one might expect from a state of the art sports complex, children in the program will have the opportunity to get instruction in a variety of sports including swimming, gymnastics, soccer, tee ball, ice skating and more. The center will offer full-day and half-day program options, Monday through Friday, and families may choose 2 to 5 days per week, according to the release.

“We are thrilled to be building our second early learning center, expanding upon the highly successful model we developed at our center at Chelsea Piers New York,” said Mollie Marcoux, CPCT executive director. “CP Kids will be unparalleled in its physical facility, curriculum and teaching staff.”

Chelsea Piers will begin accepting applications for CP Kids in January 2012, with a limited full-day summer program beginning July 2012 and the 2012-2013 school year beginning September 2012.

The sports facility, which is , is scheduled to open in June 2012. It will include two skating rinks; an aquatics facility with Olympic-sized pool; a gymnastics training center; a baseball and softball training facility with indoor turf infield and five batting cages; an indoor 100-yard turf field for soccer, lacrosse, football, field hockey, softball and baseball; hardwood courts for basketball and volleyball; a 1/5-mile indoor track; a squash center with 12 courts; and a tennis center with seven indoor tennis courts.

What’s more it will offer extensive array of professional instructors (including , who will serve as as Director of Lacrosse) and league programs for youths, teens and adults, according to the release.

As reported on last month, a   It was also that state and local officials have hashed out a deal (including major tax breaks and other incentives) paving the way for NBC Sports to relocate its operations from New York City to the former Clairol site, which it will share with the Chelsea Piers sports facility. Once completed the new studio facility will be home to NBC Sports, NBC Olympics, NBC Sports Digital, VERSUS (which will be renamed NBC Sports Network come January), and the Comcast Sports Management Group, which oversees the NBC Sports Group’s 14 regional networks.