“Set up for success.”

It’s a phrase, and philosophy, expressed again and again by the brain children and promoters of the Michael H. Seibel Family Visitation and Exchange Center, currently under construction on First Avenue Southeast.

From the one-way mirrors and painted murals to the recreation room and Web cam communication, this 4,665 square-foot, $922,000 facility is a culmination of 18 months of research, tours and community commitment, with a return designed to provide a safe, comfortable, even impressive space for any family torn by divorce.

“I believe we’ll have people coming from all over the nation to see this, and use it as a model,” said Kathy Stutzman, Seibel Center project coordinator for Parenting Resource Center, Inc., which has led the project with the help of a 45-member community consortium.

“All of the framework (for the facility) have come from all over the country, Puerto Rico and Guam,” she said.

All at the disposal of Spamtown U.S.A. With the center in its third month of construction, and a completion date expected by June’s end, the sheet-rock walls and open window casings give little credit to the product to come, though Stutzman, PRC executive director Maryanne Law and crisis nursery coordinator Heather Steinkamp provided a touching glimpse during a tour Friday.

“It’s still hard to believe we are only three weeks from being done,” Stutzman said.

The three began at one of two doors at the north end, high stepping into a door leading to a hallway designated for the 18 or so employees still awaiting hire. To that door’s east is the “moms’ entrance,” where only mothers and maternal relatives will enter for visitations and exchange. The fathers’ is around the corner to the west. In the center of it all is the security room for staff, complete with audio, visual and physical access.

The two corridors are intentional, Stutzman said, pointing out the security cameras, intercom, lighting and speakers that will eventually adorn the areas. First is safety, particularly for those court mandated to the center or victims of spousal abuse. In addition, the doors and space leading the way to quick exchange or extended visit provide visual barriers between parents, which can provide a degree of comfort to all involved.

“There may not be an order for protection or a domestic assault,” Law said. “Because the conflict is not with the child, it’s with the parents.”

Though they emphasize that all who enter the center, regardless of circumstance, are due equal degrees of dignity. One of the guiding principles, in fact, is respect, according to Stutzman, who said the group had that in mind when designing the separate areas for moms and dads — moms always on the north and dads always to the south — which will be identical in ambiance and comfort.

“When we visited a number of visitor centers, we noticed that the mom’s areas were always cozy and the dad’s was always sterile,” Stutzman said.

When only exchanges take place, a parent will wait with their children at their respective end, until a staff member accompanies the young ones through a door to a short hallway, split in the middle by a second door, into the other parent area.

The attention to detail was meticulous: in their tours of centers nationwide, organizers learned that bathrooms often serve as safe haven for children when they feel overwhelmed. So instead of a glut of bathrooms, Austin organizers created a small room for a child as he or she enters the visitation area that allows him or her to decompress and grab a game or two.

“So that when they walk into a nervous situation, they are in control of something,” Law said.

Windows are also placed near the ceilings of each room — a security measure for parents plagued by stalking and to discourage onlookers of any kind.

A kitchenette will occupy the southwest end of the visitation area, so that parents can plan quick meals and eat with their children if they choose; a recreation area will provide air hockey, basketball and other games for adolescent boys in need of “appropriate,” fun contact with their dads; a two-screen computer, complete with a Web camera and games will provide opportunity for children with parents far away to interact without the pressure of conversation.

There’s endless more nuances to sharpen the degree of comfort, security and togetherness for families, which is likely why Stutzman, Law and Steinkamp glow as they move room-to-room.

They know they’ve provided the best for these families.

“You’re seeing some things here that haven’t been done anywhere else because of the consortium,” Stutzman said.

She said the center may serve up to 56 families and supervise 110 exchanges weekly. In addition, nearly all of the rooms are multi-purpose, offering easy transition to training and other community events during off-hours.

“A lot of our visits will take place in evenings and weekends, which opens up the facility for trainings during

the day,” Stutzman said.

The funding for the planning of the Seibel Center, named after the late Judge Michael J. Seibel, came in July 2005, when Mower County became one of five grantees for a $120,000 grant from the Office on Violence Against Women of the U.S. Department of Justice.

“The philosophy when we built this was based on the Office on Violence Against Women,” Law said. “So the requirement for doing one was the high-security and safety measures in place. That’s why we have the funding.”

This also brought the advent of the consortium, a team of 45 community representatives from law enforcement, justice, advocacy, service and other sectors.

Stutzman said they are hoping to reach $100,000 from the community, and funding will continue to be supplemented by grants and visitor fees, the latter which will be based on a sliding scale.

The PRC will ultimately take responsibility of staff and service of the center, and is currently in the process of hiring a director, with the help of consortium members, which they will announce next Thursday, Stutzman and Law said.

If all stays on schedule, the pair said the center will be open for 80 hours of staff training early August, with services beginning mid-August.

An open house will follow approximately one month later.

“At this moment, we do not have a date set for ribbon cutting — it will probably be mid-September,” Stutzman said.