ESTERHAZY — The Little Miners Community Daycare Board in Esterhazy provided an update as to where they are in the process of opening the community’s second daycare facility. While a contractor is in place and ready to begin construction work on the daycare’s space at the Esterhazy High School, the group continues to wait on final permits that will allow that work to proceed.
“Our first building permit came back to us, but they needed some more drawings and some more things engineered,” explained Marissa Porter, Little Miners’ board chair. “So we had to do that. That’s why it’s taking so long.”
Once the engineered drawings come back from Professional Building Inspections, renovation work can begin, and an opening date will become clearer. Right now, the board is determined to open sometime in 2025.
The provincial government has committed $10,000 per space towards building costs, but Porter says costs will far exceed that amount and will be beyond what they’ve managed to fundraise so far.
“The government grant that we’re going to get for this renovation is not going to be enough to cover our renovation and then cost of operations,” she said, adding that the construction is projected to cost more than $700,000. “The grant that we’re getting from the government is solely for renovations and construction. It’s for nothing else.”
“When you’re renovating an existing building that’s been around for a while, you always come into issues that you maybe didn’t anticipate, or you run into some cost overruns,” said Melville-Saltcoats 小蓝视频 Warren Kaeding. “They have a very ambitious target when they want to get up and running, and that probably exacerbates the problem a little bit, too.”
Porter empathizes with those curious about the daycare’s progress, stressing that they are currently strongly focused on fundraising.
“I know a lot of the community, they’re wondering because we’re not giving exact numbers out yet,” she said. “We’ll be having an AGM with all our financial information coming soon, and the public can come to that.”
Any donation is welcome, and those interested in supporting the daycare can contact them via [email protected]. Currently, Little Miners has raised roughly $105,000 and will be setting a fundraising target goal soon.
“People don’t realize that it’s not just opening a facility, we need to pay staff; we have administration costs,” Porter said. All associated items such as furniture, groceries, and bills add up to a significant tally.
“Another big purchase that we’re hoping to get behind, we might have lined up transportation that we’ve been looking for, for three years as well,” Porter said. “A 15-passenger van, so that will be another thing that we have to fundraise for and ask for sponsorship as well.”
Community support has been strong for the daycare, as evidenced by their recent family Christmas party on Dec. 20 that drew 130 people to the SN Boreen Community Centre.
“We were hoping for a little bit more, but it was our first time doing it,” Porter said. “It actually went over very well. We’re pretty happy with the support that we had from the community.”
Next big fundraiser March 29
Firmly in full fundraising mode, Little Miners is getting ready for their next big event, this time an ages 19-plus supper and show on March 29 at the S.N. Boreen Community Centre as Little Miners presents Dueling Pianos. A limited number of tickets are available by texting Cassandra Zimmer at (306) 740-7709 and are set at $65 each. Doors open at 5:30 pm with cocktails, followed by a 6:30 pm supper, then entertainment starting at 8 pm.
Once the Little Miners Community Daycare is complete, it will feature 55 government-funded spaces plus 15 before and after school spots.
In November 2023, the provincial government announced that 2,300 daycare spaces would be added across 51 facilities in Saskatchewan, amounting to a total $23.5 million allocation. By June of last year, Little Miners found a home at the Esterhazy High School after signing a lease with the Good Spirit School Division—the product of many months worth of talks between the daycare and school boards.
“We are hoping more businesses would like to partner with us in some way, whether it’s sponsorship, donating for an event, or even donation of product to help with construction side of things,” Porter said. “We need the community and the community needs this facility.”
