Having a place where people with Down syndrome can go and be around others with the same disorder just become easier in Bowling Green.

On Thursday, parents and their children came out to the new Buddy House at 522 State St., fittingly on World Down Syndrome Day.

Kids and their parents were excited about the new 3,000-square-foot facility that, beginning in June, will have education and activities for infants, children and adults with Down syndrome and their families, as well as parents-to-be who have learned pre-birth that their child has the genetic condition.

The building will also house a Western Kentucky University-themed Big Red Room, which will feature computers to help continue adult literacy and math. There will be a lending library, a meeting room, a kitchen to teach independent living skills and space for the BG Rockerz and ADAM group for younger children to dance. There will also be a memorial wall for people with Down syndrome who have died.

Having all these activities and things to do in such a large building must be exciting for these children, many of whom may not have ever met one another without Buddy House.

The house, which has been five years in the making, will serve families in a 10-county region.

Having Down syndrome certainly brings with it challenges. Having the Buddy House will allow these people to be with others who share the same day-to-day challenges. It will also be beneficial to the parents of kids with Down syndrome to be around other parents whose kids have the same condition.

Buddy House is a great venue, and we are fortunate to have it Bowling Green.