The long waitlist for daycare in Prince Edward County has attracted national attention — and funding for an expansion of The Hub Child and Family Centre.

In addition to support from Prince Edward Lennox and Addington Social Services, an expansion grant from the joint federal and provincial initiative, Canada Wide Early Learning Child Care means a whole new HUB opens at Base31 in January with licensed spaces for 49 children.

In December 2024, the HUB and Base31 started to work in earnest on a dedicated childcare facility for Prince Edward County. The Base contributed $75,000 to the project through both funding and a lease subsidy, while dedicating an entire support team to planning and logistics. 

Building 3 now features a beautiful, 3750 square foot facility with three separate classrooms for toddlers and pre-schoolers surrounded by gardens and a dedicated play space for children from 18 months to 4 years old.

The centre will offer subsidized spots to cost $22 per day.

The HUB is now seeking 9 full-time staff members, and is working with Loyalist College, PELASS, and Career Edge to find the right people.

Finding the right space posed perhaps the biggest obstacle to an expansion that has been years in the making, explains HUB Executive Director Stacey Stanford.

“We know how long the waitlist is. We considered renting, we considered purchasing — and then we found this beautiful blank slate,” she says, referring to the long, multi-windowed former barracks, formerly home to the Maison de Poivre art gallery. It is the first building you see after the Visitor Center when arriving at Base31.

“We have been working on this expansion since 2023. PEC needs childcare. We hear it. We know it.”

Play Café next door

Adjoining the daycare in Building 3 is Wildlings Play Café. Founded by two entrepreneurial couples with small children, it opens in mid-December, and will offer a dedicated, specially designed play space for children up to age 7  — alongside a quiet sanctuary for their parents.

Multiple teams of tradespeople are working double time to get everything ready at both the HUB and Wildlings. Craig Vaughan Construction, Burley Excavating, Tim Dainard, and Scott Wentworth Landscaping worked on exteriors and landscapes, while Veenstra Plumbing, Rutter Bros., Alota Tile, Picton Home Hardware, Quinte Door and Hardware, Quinte Door Solutions, and Rob Wood Construction styled the interiors.

Remediation Required

The renovation wasn’t just to the buildings. The grounds, too, needed serious attention. “We learned about the soil contamination from lead paint around the sensory garden in 2024 and got proactive,” explains Jack Winberg, CEO of Rockport Group, one of Base31’s founding partners.

“We excavated the entire area around Building 3. We started digging and we kept digging until we found clean soil. We removed everything we found and replaced it all with clean fill.”

A Lead Management Plan has been developed for the historic Revitalization District.  It means the northwest corner of the Base, which includes Building 3, the Sensory Garden, the Aviator’s Garden, and the new Fairgrounds pickleball courts, has been designated a children and family area and remediated to the highest standard.

“Levels of remediation depend on a building’s use. If you are moving a building from an Industrial or Commercial use to a Residential one, a whole protocol is in place to ensure you meet the new use requirements,” explains Mr. Winberg.

“For a children’s daycare center, as you can imagine, all of the surrounding soil must be pretty much clean enough to eat.

“The Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Health have inspected and signed off on the safety of all of the children’s play areas at the Base, including the aviator’s garden, the sensory garden and everything around Building 3 and its dedicated play spaces.”

For the team at the Base, the new daycare is just the beginning. “We are just thrilled to be doing this part up front as opposed to after the houses have been built,” notes Mr. Winberg. “There is more to come.”

For Base31 President Assaf Weisz, the constellation of children and family spaces represents the fulfillment of a dream. “From the moment we opened the Base we wanted an energy center for the community.

“Everyone here is personally attached to this project because it represents the future. It is part of the longer-term vision, which is to animate the northern part of the site for families and kids and to create a cluster of overlapping uses for the whole community.”

While future development is top of mind, current needs are a priority, too.

“People looking to move here want complete services. Daycare and transit are obvious places where we don’t even have the infrastructure to service the existing population. We are playing catch up to take care of the people who are already here,” notes Mr. Weisz.  

Government Partnership

The new daycare centre is funded through Federal, provincial, and community support. The major supports come from Prince Edward – Lennox & Addington Social Services and the Canada Wide Early Learning Child Care system, a joint initiative of the federal and Ontario governments.

The HUB also extends heartfelt thanks to its Board of Directors, management and staff, and the many community champions who made the vision a reality:

• Huff Family Fund

• Vital Impact Fund

• John & Bernice Parrott Foundation

• The County Foundation (including an anonymous donation)

• 100 People Who Care PEC

• Countless community donors, including PEC Needs Child Care and The County of Prince Edward