Despite the fact the official ground-breaking ceremony had to be cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, construction will go ahead for a brand new Centre de la Petite Enfance Kaleidoscope Early Child Care Centre (CPE/CCC) in Saint-Chrysostome.
The facility is expected to open its doors in the fall/winter of 2020-2021 and will be able to accommodate up to 80 children, including 20 infants under 18 months of age.
This announcement is good news for the region and for the families who have been eagerly awaiting this project. The construction site officially opened on May 11, in accordance with the gradual resumption of certain economic activities across the province, including construction projects.
The first Kaleidoscope daycare was begun in 1979 in Huntingdon and welcomed 36 children when it opened its doors. In 1998, as demand continued to grow, 50 more spaces were added, and in the year 2000 the centre moved to its current location in Hinchinbrooke.
There has long been a need for a CCC in Saint-Chrysostome. It was during a recent call for tenders to increase by 15,000 the number of spaces available to parents in CCCs across Quebec that a project to bring another daycare centre to the MRC du Haut-Saint-Laurent was developed. The new establishment will be located at 78 Saint-Thomas Street.
With the addition of this newest CCC, the Kaleidoscope Child Care Centre network now includes 483 places for young children in the area.
Manon Crête, the director general of the Kaleidoscope CCC, is quick to acknowledge all of the different partners for their dedication to the project, including CCC administrators and staff members, the municipality of Saint-Chrysostome, and Huntingdon MNA Claire IsaBelle for her contribution to ensuring the project would become a reality. (S.R.)