Kitimat Community Development Centre will be moving its daycare operations into the Roy Wilcox school building.
KCDC director Marianne Hemmy said the centre has signed a lease for the space on the ground floor adjacent to the space used by Kitimat Dynamics Gymnastics Club.
“In addition to the existing Stepping Stones spaces the Kitimat Community Development Centre will be creating 16 additional spaces for children from birth to three years old,” said Hemmy.
She said minor renovations will be carried out at the school to meet provincial daycare licence requirements, including a minimum number of toilets for the number of children.
The daycare’s entrance will be through Roy Wilcox’s main entrance and will have a very similar design to Stepping Stones, currently located in the former Cormorant School, now Kitimat City High (KCH) building.
The additional spaces will increase the KCDC’s ability to offer daycare to children from birth to three years old to 24 spaces.
“We are looking at options to further increase our capacity by another 20 spaces for children aged three to five years old,” said Hemmy.
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She said the KCDC is hoping that renovations will be completed by August 15 for an opening date of September 1 this year. The renovations are being carried out by Terrace-based Technicon Industries.
“In addition the KCDC is also looking to relocate Stepping Stones currently located at Cormorant School to the new location at Roy Wilcox school,” said Hemmy.
“We will create the additional 20 spots based on securing additional funding which is currently being investigated,” added Hemmy.
The leasing of Roy Wilcox was made possible through a grant submitted under the B.C. government’s Ministry of Child and Family Development’s Childcare Major Capital Funding, submitted by former executive director Margaret Warcup.
The challenge now, Hemmy said, is finding qualified staff to provide services at the new venue.
Hemmy said the increase in daycare positions comes ahead of an anticipated increase in the demand for daycare services as industrial development activity increases in the region.