The Lunenburg Day Care Centre recently applied for provincial funding to build a new facility. Photo: CKBW File Photo.
Lunenburg’s daycare is no longer pursuing a new build on Starr Street, instead opting to expand its current Lincoln Street facility.
The decision was announced in a letter to council and confirmed in an interview with Shauna Miller, board chair for the daycare. She said cost and site conditions were the main reasons for the change in direction.
“Once we had several landscapers and engineers come in and tell us how much a retaining wall would cost us before we even got a building there—it was two million dollars that we weren’t gonna spend to move some dirt around and make a wall,” Miller explained.
The board says the revised plan will still lead to a major expansion, adding 50 to 60 new childcare spaces. That’s fewer than the 87 spots projected for the Starr Street proposal, but Miller said staying in the town centre comes with other benefits.
“Most of our staff are happier to stay in town,” she said. “That way our kids are still able to walk everywhere… and everybody sees the daycare.”
Architects are now working on design options using both existing underutilized space and a planned addition at the rear of the building. “We were a grocery store,” Miller said. “So there’s lots of space still in our centre… but we will be adding on.”
While no detailed construction timeline has been finalized, the board hopes to break ground before Christmas.
Despite the expansion, Miller said it still won’t fully meet the community’s needs. “Our waitlist is over 200,” she said. “We’re not touching the majority, but we’re getting some.”
The daycare remains a year-round facility, and the board is still working through logistics to determine how programming will continue during construction.
