Warden Chris White said Wellington County’s decision to purchase the Willowdale daycare building for $150,000 from the City of Guelph suits the needs of families that have used the subsidized daycare service.
Some 55 families living in the area had their children using the facility up until it was forced to close in May after asbestos was discovered. Since that time the county has been looking for another building to house the day care, which is funded by the county’s social services department.
“This service disruption has been challenging,” said Luisa Artuso, director of child care services at the county.
“I would like to thank the Willowdale families and staff for their patience during this transitional period. The county looks forward to directly operating this important child care program in a brand new building and in the same area.”
Many of the children attending the facility have special needs, White added. “We checked out about 18 different buildings,” White said of the search that turned up no alternatives. “There’s 55 families; they don’t drive, so we had to stay in that neighbourhood.”
The money to purchase the building and build a new facility will come out of a social service reserve fund.
“We’re happy to buy that back,” White said of the purchase of the building that has operated as a daycare for about 30 years. “We have the daycare there, the staff were trained for special needs children and this is more than just a space, this is an essential service.”
White believes building a new facility to meet provincial standards could cost about $2 million.
“That’s ballpark,” he said.
It’s expected the job will go to tender early in 2014.
