By TERRY PUGH
The Warman Childcare Centre (WCC) is another step closer to officially opening its newly-completed facility on 1st Avenue South, which would increase the non-profit organization’s capacity to 136 licesned childcare spaces.
Warman City Council voted at a meeting on Monday, August 24 to extend its lease agreement with the WCC. The current lease agreement, established in 2016, still has another 19 years remaining and expires September 3, 2045.
The decision by City Council essentially establishes a new 30-year lease agreement with the WCC which would expire in 2056.
The new lease agreement is required in order for the WCC to obtain loan financing for its ongoing operations and capital costs.
The WCC has operated a 36-space facility next to the Brian King Centre on city-owned property since 2016. It leases the property from the city for a nominal lease rate of $1 per year and is responsible for all costs associated with its operation, including its portion of the parking lot at that site. Under the lease agreement, the city retains ownership of the building in the event the WCC ceases operations.
The WCC began as a community initiative by a group of parents in 2013. In March 2014 the organization applied for, and received, 43 licensed spots from the Ministry of Education. The WCC organizing committee achieved charitable status from the province that same year, and worked with the City of Warman to lay plans for construction of a building on city-owned land near the Brian King Centre. Construction of that building commenced in August 2015.
The WCC was licensed in February, 2016 and its first facility opened March 1, 2016. In March, 2019, a small renovation allowed three additional licensed childcare spots, bringing its total to 46.
Two years later, the WCC was approved for an additional 90 spaces, bringing the total to 136. However, a lack of space at that time prevented the WCC from expanding to its full number of allotted licensed childcare spots.
In December, 2022, the WCC began exploring potential expansion options, and a discretionary use application for the site of the new 90-space facility was eventually approved by city council in the spring of 2024. Construction of the new facility began in 2025.
Both WCC facilities will operate under the umbrella of a single WCC board of directors.