The University of Minnesota’s Child Development Center is expected to close in the summer of 2019, according to the Star Tribune.

The Child Development Center has provided childcare and enrichment programs to children for University faculty, staff and students since 1974. The center is part of the University’s College of Education and Human Development. 

The report states a letter sent by Jean Quam, dean of the College of Education and Human Development, told parents on Monday the center would close to make room for the expansion of the Shirley Moore Laboratory School, a child development center used for research and training.

The University did not respond to multiple requests for comment on Thursday.

The program cares for 140 children aged three months to five and a half years.

The Facebook group UMCDC Parents Organizing was created Monday after the announcement, and has 421 members so far. 

Minnesota State Rep. Ilhan Omar, DFL-Minneapolis, voiced disappointment in the center’s closing on Twitter and in a press release Thursday. 

“During the last year I’ve focused a significant portion of my own on the House of Higher Education Committee on making a college degree accessible to student parents who are trying to lift up their families through education,” the statement from Omar read. “This is a huge setback for them, and I’m extremely disappointed in the University’s decision.”