Daycare calling former school new home
The former Mount Pleasant School in Liverpool will continue to be home for the Queens Daycare Association, after they were successful in their proposal to purchase the building from the Region of Queens for $1.
Declared surplus property, the Region had issued a Call for Proposals for the building earlier this year
At the Nov. 27 meeting, regional council agreed to enter into a sale and purchase agreement with the Association for the property.
As part of the process for disposing of municipal property below market value, a public hearing will be held on Jan. 8, 2019 at 6 p.m. in the council chambers of the Municipal Building on White Point Road.
Donna Dexter, chair of the board of directors for the Queens Daycare Association, said the news is being welcomed.
“We’re very happy,” she said. “We’ve been trying a new home for more than a year after the Region announced the building was going to be surplus and we just could not find anything that would work because of our regulations that daycare have to follow. This suggestion was made (to submit a proposal) and we jumped on it.”
Dexter said while owning the building “is going to mean a lot more responsibility for our volunteer board members, we are all so passionate about having a licenced daycare centre for Queens County that we have agreed to take in on.”
Queens Daycare has been in operation since 1986 at the same location.
Dexter said taking on the building means an increase in general operating costs for the Association.
“We have been very gener- ously subsidized by the Region of Queens since we started,” she said.
“Utilities and maintenance will be an added cost to us” as will such things as grounds keeping and plowing. “Those are all things we have to consider.”
The Plant to Plate Community Garden is also located on the former Mount Pleasant School property.
“It’s a beautiful garden,” said Dexter.
“The children at the daycare actually have a little plot there where they plant their sunflowers. It’s certainly something we think is very needed and very beneficial to the community,” adding the Daycare Association is certainly willing to work with the community garden stakeholders as much as possible “but keeping in mind our priority has to be our daycare.”
Dexter said once the sale is finalized, the Association will have room to expand the daycare centre.
“Prior to owning the building there was no place to expand. Now we have the possibility of two additional rooms on the main level,” adding they will be looking to see where the highest need is, including infant care.
“We’re looking into that quite seriously,” she said, as well as applying for a grant that would help make modifications to the building to meet regulations for infant care.
As it is now, Queens Daycare can care for as many as 42 children at a time. The current enrol- ment is 33.
“We’re still getting used to the idea that four-year-old children are not cared for in daycare any more,” said Dexter.
“They are in the school system now in the pre-primary program so that’s been an adjustment for our enrolment so we’re quite pleased with the fact that our enrolment is staying quite stable . The loss of the four-year-olds is being picked up by children 18 months. to three, so we’re encouraged by that.”
Dexter said the Association received a lot of community support in their bid to find a permanent home.
“We were quite amazed how the community rallied behind us when we didn’t know what the future held. People were very positive and just couldn’t believe anyone would give up our daycare. If you don’t have licenced daycare you really are limiting the young families who might be considering moving to your community … because without childcare it really limits what parents can do.”
Dexter said the Association is looking for more board members with specific skills to help with the added responsibility. Anyone interested in volunteering can contact the daycare centre.