Citing a desperate need for childcare spaces, West 麻豆精选 council is moving ahead with the Mount Boucherie Community Centre Restoration Project (MBCC).
In 2023, the city received an initial $1.2 million, an initial payment of about 40 per cent of the total, from the ChildCare BC New Space Fund. The total grant is $3 million.
鈥淚鈥檓 grateful to the province for providing the grant,鈥� said Mayor Gord Milsom. 鈥淲e certainly do need childcare spaces.鈥�
Approximately 50 per cent of those funds will be available upon written request from the city and evidence the MBCC project is near completion. The remaining 10 per cent will be available once the project is finished.
Renovations include a new outdoor childcare play space to meet the criteria of the grant. The BGC Okanagan will operate the childcare spaces.
A staff report says that following a progressive design-build process, also approved by council, the restoration should not result in new tax increases.
The $3 million grant, approximately $680,000 of existing reserve funds, may provide a small surplus should the project commence quickly to reduce further cost escalation.
The MBCC was transformed into a temporary city hall in 2009 and will be turned back over to the public once the City of West 麻豆精选 moves into its new building in the next few weeks.
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