Province kicks in funding for daycare at old firehall site
The province announced today that it will provide $325,000 to help renovate the old fire hall station at 1710 Grosvenor Avenue and turn it into a new daycare centre. The building was at the centre of a controversial land swap deal between the city and Shindico in 2012.
The Rady Jewish Community Centre purchased the fire hall in 2014 and announced it would use the building to expand its existing daycare. Work has begun on the building that will provide 48 new spaces in the River Heights community. The centre will be will be called the David and Ruth Asper Early Learning Centre; the Aspers are major financial contributors to the project.
The daycare will provide much-needed spaces for preschoolers aged two to five, officials said.
"There is a significant need in our community for child care. We hear that every day, we see that every day, when families come to us and say 'We are looking for child care' and we have to say we don't yet have spaces. For us, it's going to be wonderful to be able to say 'Yes, we have 48 more spaces,'" said Gayle Waxman, executive director of the community centre.
The Rady Jewish Community Centre has more than 800 children on a wait list for spaces at the Kaufman Child Care Centre, which is at the community centre's main site on Doncaster Street. That centre has 113 daycare spaces for infants, preschool and school age children.
The new daycare is set to open sometime in 2016. Parents can register by going to the Manitoba Child Care Registry.
