The $8 million Palmer Human Development and Family Studies Building is scheduled to be finished this winter and primarily will house laboratory classrooms and counseling clinics.

The main donors for this project were Barbara and Jim Palmer, both of whom are graduates of Iowa State, said Joan Herwig, associate professor of human development and family studies.

Other alumni and friends of the College of Family and Consumer Sciences have privately funded the building as well, she said.

When completed, the total cost of the Palmer Building will be about $8.2 million, said Phyllis Lepke, senior vice president of the ISU Foundation.

The university has supplied $1 million, and the rest will come from donations, which as of Sept. 15 total almost $6.9 million.

“This figure shows the real commitment that alumni and donors have to the College of Family and Consumer Sciences,” Lepke said.

The Palmer Building is located behind Catt Hall and next to LeBaron and Bessey Halls.

When it opens this winter, only two of the three stories will be accessible, Herwig said.

The third story will remain an empty “shell” until the ISU Foundation receives additional money.

“The third floor will remain unfinished until there is further fund raising,” she said.

Laboratory school classrooms and a seminar room will be on the first floor; the second floor will have the Family and Marital Therapy Clinic, the Family Financial Counseling Clinic and department offices.

The building also will house the Engle-Lilly Children’s Library, with a collection of books to be used exclusively in the lab school, and room for an infant and toddler program to be added in the fall of 2000.

The Palmer Building will be the fifth location for the lab school during its 75 years at Iowa State, Herwig said.

The lab school offers daily programs for preschoolers, kindergartners and school-age children while the university is in session.

This program allows ISU students to get hands-on experience to prepare them for their future occupations, Herwig said.

“The building will allow students to work with young children, as well as to observe them,” she said.

“A particular feature of the school is the outdoor play space,” she said.

Swingsets already have been added to the building’s lot, Herwig said.

A camera monitors constantly the construction progress, which can be viewed on the Internet at www.fpm.iastate.edu/aes/palmer/.