Childcare centre to be built on top of East Vancouver school

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – The province, City of Vancouver and the school board are getting together to make the most of the space they have in this tight real estate market. An East Vancouver elementary school is being rebuilt as part of the seismic upgrading program and they’re adding space for childcare.

A new floor will be added to Sir Sanford Flemming Elementary to accommodate a purpose-built childcare centre. This is a new idea, using the opportunity seismic upgrading presents to tailor the building to the needs of the area.

Real estate and rent in Vancouver are expensive for daycare operators and School Board Trustee Patti Bacchus says this helps overcome the cost. “They are essentially getting the land for free because they are building on top of our school, and you know it’s a great compatible use of a public building that we know will be a tremendous asset for the community.”

She believes this presents a unique opportunity. “That does open up the option of looking at that construction and whether we can add a floor that could be used for this purpose. The city has that goal of providing more access to childcare.”

The same model will be used at Nelson Elementary and Bacchus hopes to see more of this type of collaboration.

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