Windsor Day Care Centre receives funding for new facility

The Windsor Day Care Centre finally received the good news they've been waiting for. Funding to replace the aging facility was approved last week to the tune of $675,000.

West Hants MLA Chuck Porter presented the check at the day care, Monday, Sept. 22. Centre director Pat Post was excited beyond words that day. “We are all just so thrilled to know we will be able to build a new center. Pinch me,” she said.

The centre currently has seats for 54 children and employs nine full time staff. With a new facility, those numbers will rise dramatically to allow for more spaces, infant care and staff. “Our goal is to build a centre which will house 100 children, including infants and after-school children.”

To date, the centre has not been able to accommodate infants, and Post said there is a need for that service in the area.

Holistic approach

Windsor Day Care board chair Shannon Porter says the new centre will also be more environmentally friendly and constructed primarily with renewable resource products. “We will be using engineered wood framing, thermal pained windows, low-flush toilets and solar heated hot water,” she said. The flooring will be a linseed oil-based non-toxic product that is both natural and durable.

As well, with increased outdoor play space the day care intend to plant gardens, which the children can tend and pick from.

The location of the new centre will be on an empty lot adjacent to Windsor Library. The Town of Windsor has held that space in trust for the new center for the past two years.

Boost for young families

Porter has worked closely with the centre board in obtaining funding and says the new facility will serve to strengthen what West Hants has to offer families. “We are a growth area and there are more and more families moving to the area that require child care.”

He added, “I can speak to the fact that the Windsor Day Care Centre have provided the community with a solid foundation of childcare in this region. Most of the staff has been there for more than 20 years and that speaks volumes.

“Windsor Day Care is a cornerstone of our community and they will be able to better provide their valuable service in a new building.”

The day care has been in operation since 1976 and the building they are currently in is almost 100 years old. Although staff and board have worked tirelessly to keep the center up to provincial standards Post said it has been uphill battle for years.

“We’re just so relieved. I really don’t know what we would have done if the funding did not come through,” she said. “We could have held on for maybe another year, but after that I just can't say what would have happened.”

Post added, “parents and staff are just so grateful to the province for choosing us for this grant. We could not have done this without the support from the community and our MLA.”

Funding for the new building is part of an $8 million investment to create 550 more childcare spaces across the province.

The Early Learning and Child Care Plan committed to creating 1,000 childcare spaces and is part of an overall $200 million program co-funded by the federal and provincial governments.