Teddy Bear operator sought
Daycare may stay open until ’09; space’s long-term destiny undecided
Whistler Question
By Megan Grittani-Livingston
June 13, 2008

After an outpouring of protest over the Maurice Young Millennium Place Society’s decision to close the Teddy Bear Daycare, the move has been reversed — in a way.

Last week, after a meeting between three members of the society’s board of directors, Whistler Blackcomb Foundation chair Dave Brownlie and Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) administrator Bill Barratt, the participants released a joint statement that said the society would issue a request for proposals seeking a third-party operator of the daycare for a 12-month period, though the society would go ahead with its plan to cease operating the daycare on June 30.

That could give the Teddy Bear Daycare a one-year reprieve, if third-party operator candidates apply and one is approved by an as-yet-unselected committee.

The statement said the society would use that 12-month period to reach a decision about use of the space that would be informed by three studies: the Child Care Working Group’s assessment of Whistler’s needs, a study commissioned by the Whistler Arts Council regarding the economic impact of arts and culture and a functional review of Millennium Place.

…. “And in the meantime, we’ll be trying to get back to our core business, which is developing partnerships to work for arts and cultural programming in Whistler, and in particular within MY Place,” she said….

Local parents who had called for the centre to remain open cautiously hailed the decision, though they remained daunted by the amount of uncertainty surrounding the daycare’s future.

“I think it’s great that our voices were heard,” said Bea Gonzalez, parent of a five-year-old son who will continue attending the Teddy Bear Daycare until June 30. “It’s very disappointing, though that (the recent decision) comes this late in the game, when people have started making other plans, the teachers have started getting other jobs and there’s still no certainty that there is someone taking it over.”

Parent Jennifer Abbott, who brought a 400-signature petition to keep the centre open to RMOW Council, expressed similar concerns about the hurry to find a new operator and the length of time between the announced closure and this decision.

“This facility is an invaluable resource to the community of Whistler and cannot be closed,” she wrote in an e-mail to The Question.

“Maurice Young Millennium Place can certainly be the best cultural precinct in the world, but locals can only appreciate culture if you have leisure time and disposable income...

Teddy Bear Daycare has the most affordable rates of any facility in Whistler.”