Hillsboro day-care center nearing capacity
Staff writer
Two months after the child care center in Hillsboro opened, it is nearing capacity.
The center has a capacity of 99 for children with 12 for infant spots and 60 to 70 young kids. are enrolled. The infant spots are filled.
The plan is not to exceed 99 because a lot more state regulations apply to centers serving 100 or more,.
In the future, City Administrator Matt Stiles expects the center to enroll close to 99.
“That would be a great problem to have,” he said.
The Hillsboro center is one of 12 child care homes that take infants.
Others are Sunshine Country Preschool in Marion and First Mennonite Church in Hillsboro.
“There is a need,” Stiles said.
The new Hillsboro Child Care Center in the 200 block of Elm St. operates in the 11,000 square-foot former Trinity Mennonite Church building.
An unfinished basement of the same size at the former church is to be used for something else, Stiles said.
The center has been in the works for some time.
In 2019 a survey was sent to residents to get their input. A task force was then convened to study logistics and location.
“This is six years in the making,” said Stiles, who serves on the center’s board. “A lot of blood, sweat, and tears went into this. It’s been a great project and process.”
The church closed because few people were coming to services. Members decided to donate the building to the child care center in April, 2023.
“We did not have any operations before the building,” Stiles said. “We were looking for a site. This is a match made in heaven.”
Renovating the church to create the center cost $3.2 million.
Except for a $600,000 community development block grant, the city had no part in the project.
Half of the remaining $2.6 million came from other grants. The remaining $1.3 million came from private donations ranging from $50 to $6,000.
“It really was a community effort,” he said
The center may some day schedule after school programs, and that would not be included in the 99-child cap, he said.
Stiles expects the center to have a grand opening as early as later this week, but he added it would have to be after all the children were gone. The center closes at 6 p.m.