On Friday afternoon, about 75 people gathered at the old Washington School to celebrate the groundbreaking of the Southeast Missouri State University Autism Center for Diagnosis and Treatment.

"Whatever you do, try to make tomorrow just a little bit better than today," Sen. Jason Crowell told the crowd. "And that's what my vision, my hope and all of our hopes and visions are for this treatment and diagnostic center is -- to make life here in Southeast Missouri for families with a child with autism just a little bit better than it was before."

The 11,582-square-foot center will be built on the grassy area next to the school, at the corner of Middle and Mill streets in Cape Girardeau. It will house several therapy rooms with observation capabilities for family members, clinicians and students. Many of the rooms are designed for music therapy, occupational therapy and life-skills training.

Four institutions have collaborated to provide services at the center -- the university, Judevine Center for Autism-Southeast Project, The Tailor Institute and The Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders at the University of Missouri at Columbia. The goal of the effort is to reduce duplication of services, reduce waiting lists for clients and help families access support.

"Now patients won't have to drive to St. Louis or Columbia with a child with autism to get the help that they need," Crowell said.

Board of regents president Donald "Brad" Bedell said the growing number of children with autism presents the need for a center in Southeast Missouri. He said the number of school-age children with autism in Missouri schools rose from 2,300 in 2003 to more than 4,500 in 2007.

"Just for the counties here in Missouri that we serve, autism rose from 90 students to 290 students in the same time frame, a 107 percent increase," Bedell said. "I think that definitely showcases the need for this very important project that we are going to have here in our county."

The estimated cost of the center is $2.6 million. Funding will come for the Lewis and Clark Discovery Initiative. An additional $494,000 in operating and startup funds for the center has been allocated for fiscal year 2009, which starts July 1, through the Department of Mental Health.

Connie Hebert, interim director of the autism center, said the additional funding will be used to establish a diagnostic team that will interact with the colleges of health and human service, education and liberal arts, to provide pre-professional and practicum experiences at the center.

Southeast created a committee to explore the development of an autism center after it became aware of the state's planned appropriation in regard to the Lewis and Clark Discovery Initiative approved by the Missouri Legislature in 2007.

"Our center was a dream at that time, and we couldn't really define that dream exceptionally well. But we would work hard to make that a reality," Hebert said.

The final conceptual design was approved by the board of regents in September.

"Today is a real landmark in that journey -- in making a dream, reality," Hebert said.