Society for Kids’ Care and School District Five are undertaking a feasibility study for a new daycare and education centre in Sparwood.
The former Mountainview School building at 421 Pine Ave has been identified as the ideal location for a Child Development Hub, and the feasibility study would determine what kind of programs and amenities it would have, as well as possible modifications and extensions to the building.
The building is currently owned by the school board and is mostly occupied by Teck workers with some space devoted to the Sparwood Treehouse Daycare.
President of Society for Kids’ Care Colleen Mason said Teck’s lease expires in 2026 and the company plans to vacate the building to move to a newly built office space near the Highway 3 and 43 intersection, leaving an opening for new development.
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Mason said the new centre would allow Sparwood Treehouse Daycare to expand, and provide space for a new public school, and before and after school care.
The idea is that it could house various specialists, including child development practitioners in mental health, speech language pathologists and occupational therapists.
Preliminary plans include building a commercial kitchen to support breakfast and lunch programs from B.C Feeding Futures, and meeting and gym facilities that could be rented out to the community for special events.
Teck has contributed $40,000 and Community Futures East Kootenay $5,000 towards the feasibility study.
Mason said that there are few childcare options for young families in Sparwood with 130 children currently waitlisted for the Sparwood Treehouse Daycare and Frank J. Mitchell Elementary School at full capacity.
“It impacts the ability for families to stay and grow and thrive in the community,” she explained.
It’s not an easy problem to solve. Mason said the lack of child care services is a deep-rooted systemic problem and that the government needs to provide better wages for young childcare educators in order draw workers to the industry.
“It’s hard to attract people to the field when you can’t pay them for the value of their work,” she explained.
“Childcare is a concern across B.C,” she added.