Mount Pleasant daycare site in bureaucratic limbo
Vancouver Courier
Sandra Thomas
March 04, 2009

The president of the Mount Pleasant Community Centre Association says the future of the facility's daycare is up in the air, despite verbal assurances from the majority of the park board the daycare will remain open until a new centre is completed.

Nancy Chiavario said she's angry at another delay in the decision to keep the daycare running until a new modular building is installed on the grounds of neighbouring Simon Fraser elementary either at the end of this year or early 2010. The community centre is slated for demolition once a new facility, 1 Kingsway, is completed this year.

Vision Vancouver commissioner Aaron Jasper wanted to introduce an emergency motion at Monday night's park board meeting asking the daycare remain until the new community centre is open. But he was told by staff the motion would go against the rules….

She said despite the commissioners' assurances they'll accommodate them, parents are concerned because one option under consideration would shuttle young children between Simon Fraser and 1 Kingsway.

Jasper said parents will have daycare for their children and, he hoped, at Mount Pleasant. But he warned the park board can supply only the building and can't afford to contribute to its operating costs, which could run between $100,000 and $200,000 a year, depending on when the new daycare centre is completed.

Chiavario noted that even if the park board agrees to leave the daycare section of the building open, there's no guarantee in these tough economic times the association's board of directors will contribute money to its operation.

NPA commissioner Ian Robertson has reservations about keeping the building open and is waiting for a staff report before voting March 23.

"As a parent of two boys who used daycare, I know how important this issue is," said Robertson. "But I still need to see how much this is going to cost and where that money's going to come from."