Play Fair Daycare to open second building in 2026
August 26, 2024, 10:24 am
Kevin Weedmark and Ashley Bochek
Play Fair Daycare was approved for a new building with 90 new spots. The new daycare building will be located on the south side of the MacLeod School grounds, on Gertie Street.
Jalisa Miller, Jay Hamilton, Terri Low, and Jill Jones of the day care committee talked about the plans Thursday.
Miller explains the steps the committee has taken in planning for the new build.
“The last time we’ve really talked about it publicly was when we came out at the Community Information Meeting and since then there has been quite a lot going on. We went through the land surveying and subdivision process with the school division, so the subdivision process is just about wrapped up and then once that is finalized it’ll be our land.
“We also did the geotechnical drilling, so that information will be used in the civil and earthwork designs. Jill and the daycare set up a website. The intent of the Facebook site was just to keep the community informed, to post information about fundraisers, and volunteer opportunities. That was one thing that we kind of heard from the information session—to keep everyone in the community informed on what was going on, so we got that set up. Then, we got into the design process.”
Hamilton says they have agreed on a final revision of the floor plan with minor tweaks.
“The preliminary floor plan is pretty much complete. We’ve been through three different revisions, and I think we have a site plan nailed down. We’re just transitioning into the exterior of the building now. That will be our next step in the design phase.”
In the beginning
The Southeast Cornerstone School Division has given the new day care a piece of their land that was used for part of the playground.
“The first thing was the site and the size of the property,” Hamilton said. “What was offered was too small in the beginning so we had to figure how much space we needed to be able to fit this thing on there. Then, we got that nailed down and then we toured the existing daycare and saw what worked there and what didn’t work there. We took that into consideration and then we got a lot of input from Jalisa, Jill and Terri from the daycare board on what they needed in the new space.”
Low says the day care committee had input in the floor design for the new building.
“We had input in room sizes and in making sure everything matches what our needs are, and to accommodate all of the kids. We’re still trying to nail down exactly what we’re going to do for the different spaces but I think we’re getting very close. It will be much more accommodating for everybody at the new building.”
Jones adds, “Another large factor was it being all on one level. I think one of our largest drawbacks at the current building is that the kitchen is on the lower level and we have lots of preschool aged kids upstairs, so hauling two snacks and a lunch up and down the stairs every day is quite wearing on the chef. So having it now all on one level is going to be a drastic improvement.”
Low says the new day care will hold many kids of all ages.
“The new building will have infants, toddlers and preschoolers and we’ll also have our Kids Kollege and Playschool in there. Then that will be shared with the school age kids and the new building will be licensed for 90 kids.”
Time consuming
Hamilton says the committee has worked on designs for three months.
“So far, it’s been about three months of design. This is our fourth revision and it is pretty much there.”
Miller adds, “The last revision that we went through is just tweaking small things and making sure that it’s as functional as possible.”
Hamilton says the committee is happy with the floor plan that has been designed.
“It feels good to be along this far, and I’m happy with the floor plan. It’s nice to be done that phase. We have a really good functional layout that is going to far surpass what the existing day care offers. It’s also a little overwhelming in a way to see it at this point. This is a big building and a big project. It’s going to cost a lot of money and there’s a lot of work to do still.”
There are a lot of guidelines to follow when building a new day care.
“There are a lot of requirements and regulations that we have to follow,” Low said.
Hamilton adds, “There were square footage requirements for each room for the toddlers, for the infants and for the preschool. There’s square footage requirements for the yard space—how much yard space you need per kid.”
The new day care will use the MacLeod Elementary School grounds throughout the summer.
“It was the plan for the school-age kids and the Kids Kollege to use the school grounds for the summer,” Hamilton said. “The yard space is quite big and we’re definitely surpassing the minimum requirements and we’re going to have separate yard space now for the infants, toddlers and preschoolers, which is nice and something we don’t have now.”
Begin building
The committee believes the new day care building will break ground in the spring of 2025.
“We’re hoping for this spring and the goal is to be open by the end of 2026,” Low said.
Hamilton adds they will begin some ground work this fall. “We’re still hoping to push forward with a bit of a dirt work, a civil package this fall to get the building pad prepped and to bring in services with hopes to start construction in the spring of next year.”
Funds for new day care
Jones explains the outline to fundraise for the new day care building.
“We initially came up with a funding structure of hoping to self-fund one third, have government support for a third and then look to the community and some of the corporations and companies that operate within our area for the final third. That structure hasn’t changed. Right now, we’re estimating a $3.4 million project to get us to opening day.
“We’re looking to self-fund about $1.2 million, we have received $1 million from the government in a startup grant so far, and then we will be reaching out to the community for that final $1.2 million.”
Jones says the committee has created a sponsorship package for local businesses.
“We have been spending a lot of time putting together a sponsorship package where anybody that does want to support this project can see what’s in it for them and how they can play into the benefits of what this daycare would provide to this community. We’ll be reaching out very shortly with that funding package.”
Miller adds, “The community-funded portion of it—we have it split in the sponsorship package right now, we’re hoping for about $800,000 from corporate and business sponsorships and then the remaining $400,000 through community fundraisers. It will be coming out shortly and we’ll be planning to do a bit of a fundraising kickoff—just promoting it through social media and Facebook by announcing that this how much we have to raise and this is the big push to get it going.
“We’ll be talking to businesses, sending out the sponsorship package, we have a website that will be launched so we’ll direct people to the website to get project updates, information, and they’ll also be able to give donations through the website as well.”
Community support
Jones says they have planned some community fundraisers to help support the new day care building.
“We’re currently in the works of applying for a lottery license to do a trip-of-the-month fundraiser so I’m hoping we get some good success with that. There will be six different trips that we’ve designed with McPhail Travel. We’ll raffle those off and hope that some community members buy tickets and win trips for themselves or their families.”
She says they have had some community fundraisers. “We have had some organizations reach out to us and we have been so appreciative for everybody’s support that we’ve received so far.
“Through the town barbecue we received just over $2,000,” Jones said. “We’re still in the works with the Beer Mile fundraiser—we’re still looking for more registrations and for more people to come out and participate with that. We’ve also done a 50/50 where we’ve earned ourselves another $2,000 and we raised another $1,000 through the Co-op barbecue as well. Back in May we were the Smile Cookie campaign recipients and raised $45,000.”
Jones says the community support has been huge.
“The future of this community and the growth that it could achieve is dependent on having more childcare spaces available. Witnessing all of the organizations that are reaching out to us to partner with us on fundraisers, we see that buy-in and we see that acknowledgement from the community, so that’s really great.”
Miller adds, “We would encourage them to continue reaching out because I feel like there’s always events going on that we don’t know about and maybe find ideas that we could do for fundraisers. We’re really appreciative so far and we just want to keep it going.”
Thankful for the school division
Jones says the biggest challenge was finding the space for a new build.
“Finding a space for a building of this size was a big part. One of our goals was to have it all on one level, we couldn’t find a smaller lot and go up. That wasn’t an option for us so we had a major hurdle of finding an appropriate size of land in an appropriate area that was safe and accessible. Working with the school division we found a great piece of land, and working with JMA when they walked the land, they had nothing but positive things to say about it as well.”
Low says the school division offering the land was a relief for the day care committee. “It was a pretty big relief for all of us.”
Miller says the school division has been very supportive.
“They have been so supportive in just giving us the land, but they also paid for the whole subdivision process and they’ve been willing to work with us. They’ve been awesome.”
Hamilton adds, “It was a huge win. We’re extremely thankful for the school division and what they’ve done for us so far.”
Excited community
The committee has heard many positive comments from the community on the new day care.
“We’ve been getting a lot of questions about when it’s going to be open and when we’re going to start building.” Low said.
“Everyone knows we need space and they’re excited to have more space so they’re anxious to see this thing get off the ground.” Hamilton said.
Why is it important?
The committee believes the day care is important for the community.
“It’s important to me because being on the board for a few years now, I’ve seen the bottlenecks that we have at our current building and I’ve heard frustrations from community members when they cannot get their child in a spot,” Jones said. “As a working mom, I understand how difficult that is. To be able to send my kids to a safe, reliable day care every day and not have to worry and be able to concentrate on work, that’s huge for me. So to be able to play a little bit of a part in encouraging other parents to be able to send their kids off to day care with the same peace of mind that I do, that’s what’s driving me in this project.”
Low adds, “It’s important because I know the community really needs this second day care. I’ve seen a brand new day care go up and now there’s a second and I have been a part of both of them. It’s just so needed around here.
“It’s such a long wait list to get into any day care so hopefully this relieves a lot of that. We have about 75 families on our waitlist and that goes right into 2026. So it’s a big list and the new day care will help. ”
Hamilton says the day care is a needed service in town. “This is just such a crucial building block to this community growing. We would be absolutely handcuffed for growth if we did not have this. This is huge for everyone in the community to benefit from.”
Miller adds, “The impact that it will have in the community is huge, and not just our community, but the surrounding communities, too. There are so many people who drive from out of town and rely on the day care so that they can go to work.”
