Penticton, B.C. childcare facility on track to open by fall of 2022
Global News
On Wednesday, city officials and local community members gathered for a brief site tour of the new childcare facility in Penticton, B.C.
The walls for the Edmonton Avenue childcare facility in Penticton, B.C. have started to go up, bringing it one step closer to completion.
On Wednesday, city officials and local community members gathered for a brief site tour and project update.
“We anticipate finishing construction in late August and then the project will go through the licensing phase just to ensure that it is safe from Interior Health’s perspective, then we anticipate opening up in early fall 2022,” said Penticton social development specialist, Adam Goodwin.
Construction on the long-awaited centre began in November after several delays.
“It has faced two challenges. With the Thomas Creek wildfire, because it was within 50 kilometres of the fire, insurers were a bit hesitant to provide construction insurance so we had to wait till the fire was classed as under control,” said Goodwin.
“As well as the flooding in Princeton and other regions in the South, some sub-contractors did have to reallocate some resources.”
Penticton is in dire need of more child-care spaces as there is an ongoing shortage of licensed childcare facilities. The new centre will provide 116 new spaces for the community.
“One of the reasons the city wanted to be a partner on this project was from the business community, from business surveys and from speaking with families, we heard about the local childcare crisis,” said Goodwin.