Despite concerns about whether renovations would be finished on schedule to avoid losing grant funding and daycare spots in Ritchot, the St. Adolphe Child Care Centre is currently in the process of hiring new staff and completing renovations. The centre is set to open as early as next month.
The plan for the centre was unconventional, seeing the RM of Ritchot take on a $1 million loan out of its own surplus fund to pay for the project. The centre leases the building and is fundraising to repay as soon as possible a portion of the loan toward construction costs. The centre will repay the rest of the loan over time, providing the operation is revenue-positive.
The RM is responsible to pay the million dollars back into its own surplus fund over the next 20 years, whether or not the centre succeeds.
History of the Project
There was opposition to this plan among the public, and among Ritchot’s own council members, but the unprecedented borrowing structure was approved in March 2019 in the wake of public outcry and pressure from the provincial government to proceed. Previously awarded government funding for childcare spaces carried a deadline, meaning the centre had to be developed according to a tight timeframe.
The funding had been initially applied for and awarded while the centre was still in talks with a potential developer, Niverville Heritage Holdings Inc. (NHHI). At a November 2017 meeting, Ritchot’s council passed a resolution to decline NHHI’s offer to help create a seniors housing and daycare facility at 420 Main Street, citing “too much unknown risk.” This created a situation where the local daycare felt it needed to secure its own space.
At the time of the vote, three out of five Ritchot councillors were brand new to their positions following a byelection that was called after council had suspended all business in the wake of the resignation of former mayor Jackie Hunt along with two other councillors.
End of Construction
As to the St. Adolphe Child Care Centre’s construction progress and completion date, Ritchot’s CAO Mitch Duval can provide an update.
“We’re getting very close to construction completion and we will be going through the building to see if there are any deficiencies with the contractor, and then we’ll make sure to address those,” says Duval. “As far as opening goes, we had been looking at January 1, and that didn’t happen due to a few minor construction delays, but we are not far off. The occupancy permit will be applied for shortly.”
Regarding the relationship with the RM, Kori Plesiuk, board chair for the St. Adolphe Child Care Centre, says, “The RM has been phenomenal with helping with meeting with the contractors. They’ve been encouraging and forward-looking as far as showing this will be something great within the community. The biggest things are in place and things are going really good. A few of us got to do a walk-through recently and it’s going really well. We are mostly on track, gearing to open in the spring.”
The daycare building, located at 372 Main Street in what was previously an RV dealership, required significant renovations to ensure it was sound and free of contaminants to meet the province’s strict building codes for childcare facilities.
The building design has been able to maintain, and even highlight, a few pre-existing quirks.
“One of the coolest things is we are keeping the chimney swift, sometimes called the ‘St. Adolphe bird,’” says Plesiuk. “There is a chimney [in the building] that the birds migrate into that we decided to keep in place so that the birds can maintain their natural migratory pattern in our area. This is a learning tool we are using with the kids and a lot of thought has been put into it keeping this feature. Certain design elements of the building have been added with this bird theme in mind, circular holes in the walls and such, like we are in a birdhouse.”
The centre features a big kitchen and lots of natural light. The outdoor spaces, including the parent drop-off area, parking lot entrance and exit, have also been started, but are not complete yet.
“There will be staff parking to the north of the building with outlets and a convenient drop-off loop to the southwest of the building,” Plesiuk adds. “Parents can go around the loop to safely drop off kids with a good transition and traffic flow there.”
The centre’s next steps are to install the main appliances and finish hiring staff.
“We already have a director in place, but we are still looking for resumes for Early Childhood Educators (ECE) and Child Care Assistants (CCA),” Plesiuk says. “We need at least one ECE3 or ECE2 in each room to meet provincial requirements, so we will need a few extra staff to make sure we have what we need in our new larger space.”
Lana Redmond, current director of the St. Adolphe Child Care Centre, says, “Once you get into the building and seek occupancy permits and stuff, there can be delays, but we want to let parents know we will likely be opening at the end of February or mid-March. We are hopeful there won’t be any significant delays.”
Parents should know that the centre is already projected to be at full operating capacity when it opens in spring, but they have a wait list to which they are gladly adding names.
“This centre was absolutely needed, and I feel better for St. Adolphe and the surrounding areas that they now at least have this additional option,” says Redmond. “We already have a wait list that’s pretty long, but I always encourage parents to put their children on the wait list, as well as any other childcare centres’ wait lists. That is your best chance of getting a spot somewhere.”
Ongoing Fundraising
Fundraising initiatives are ongoing and the board feels positive about the fundraising efforts and community response. The centre needs to contribute to the financial partnership with the RM as well as cover outstanding funds needed for furnishings, toys, and a play structure.
“Fundraising has been going really, really well,” says Plesiuk. “We have a trivia night coming up on January 24 at St. Adolphe Motor Inn, a local business who has been really, really supportive. We still have a big sponsorship fundraiser coming up where you can sponsor a certain playset or other, and friends and family can donate and you can get a plaque with your name on it inside the centre.”
So far, major sponsors of the St. Adolphe Child Care Centre include Tourond Creek (a $20,000 sponsorship towards the hub and climbing wall) and Caisse Financial Group (a $5,000 sponsorship for the library).