St. Adolphe’s new daycare facility is one step closer to becoming reality as council approved its location at their April 19 public hearing. Council members voted unanimously in favor of allowing the build to take place within an area currently zoned as Commercial General.
“This is in regards to land within the ring dike of St. Adolphe, at the southwest corner,” CAO Mitch Duval said. “For those of you that are familiar with the Île-des-Chênes (IDC) project, it will be the same project occurring in St. Adolphe. The concept of the building is basically to have… prefabricated… components built onsite.”
The ready-to-move daycare project is a collaborative funding initiative between the federal and provincial governments and facilitated through the Winnipeg Metro Region.
The daycare already under construction in IDC was part of phase one of the initiative. In February of this year, the St. Adolphe facility was announced as part of phase two.
Like IDC, the St. Adolphe daycare will provide a total of 74 new daycare spots for the RM. Infants will fill 16 of these spots and the final 58 will be reserved for preschool children.
Staff of the RM are already talking to local trades for completion of the facility once the ready-built components reach the St. Adolphe destination. As well, conversations are underway with Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure regarding the proposed Highway 200 access to the facility immediately across from the existing access to the Tourond Creek development.
Along with the facility itself, the site will include 27 to 30 parking spots and a dedicated pickup and drop-off zone.
“We’re going to try and keep as many trees onsite as possible with the understanding that we may have to take down one or two depending on road access, building location, and fencing for the playground,” Duval said.
No daycare provider has been established as of yet. In due time, the RM will put out a request for proposal to all certified providers.
One letter of concern about the proposed location was received by council from a Brodeur Boulevard resident living just south of the community ring dike.
“The question [he asked] is, ‘How will this affect my property tax?’ Duval said. “The answer is, ‘It will not.’”
According to Duval, living next to a daycare may in fact increase the value of property when choosing to sell, especially in terms of the young family market.