LEBANON — Residents will have the chance to learn more about a proposal to build a childcare facility on school district and city-owned land on Seminary Hill Monday night.
The Boys & Girls Club of Central and Northern New Hampshire is proposing to lease property owned by the city and school district on Seminary Hill for a 5,400-square-foot, two-story childcare center with space for 49 children, ranging in age from infants to preschoolers.
The public forum is scheduled from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the SAU 88 auditorium at 20 Seminary Hill. Representatives from the city, school district and Boys & Girls Club plan to attend Monday’s meeting that will include a question-and-answer session.
The project is the latest downsized iteration in a years’ long effort to build a new childcare center in Lebanon initially kicked off by former City Manager Shaun Mulholland to address a documented need.
As of early this year, the Upper Valley had a shortage of about 3,800 available childcare slots, according to Amy Brooks, executive director of the Lebanon-based nonprofit Early Care and Education Association. Finding adequate staffing also continues to be an issue for childcare providers.
In February, the City Council granted City Manager Andrew Hosmer permission to negotiate a lease. Then, in March elections, Lebanon voters gave the school district permission to enter a long-term lease agreement with the Boys & Girls Club, 1,568-449.
The current proposal includes building a new facility, playground and 25-space parking lot on the same lot as the current SAU building. An access road and overflow parking would be built across a portion of city-owned Civic Memorial Park near athletic courts, a playground and green space.
The city is under a time crunch, having secured a $1.6 million congressionally directed spending allocation, which must be used to fund a childcare center by 2032.
If the city and school district go ahead with the project, the Boys & Girls Club would fund, own and operate the proposed childcare center. The city would put the $1.6 million allocation towards the $4 million project.
While the nonprofit would technically lease the land, it would not pay a fee to do so, Boys & Girls Club Executive Director Chris Emond clarified at a Wednesday School Board meeting.
Under a past proposal, the facility would have been built solely on city-owned land. The School Board was not involved in the original project and has been drawn in by the plan to use some School District land for the facility.
In a meeting of the School District and City Council Joint Partnership Task Force Tuesday, School Board Chairwoman Lil Maughan and Superintendent Amy Allen raised concerns about the school district’s involvement in the project and which entity is taking the lead on the proposal.
“This is someone else’s emergency and someone else’s urgency,” Maughan said. “We appreciate the idea. Do we need more childcare in the city? Absolutely. Like absolutely. Is this the way to do it? I hope so. I need a lot more information, the board needs a lot more information to do this.”
At a School Board meeting the following day, board members and Lebanon residents also raised questions and concerns about the project, including losing green space to build the facility, how the center might specifically serve Lebanon residents and the demand for and potential traffic impact of the facility.
Mayor Doug Whittlesey said at the Tuesday joint meeting that he did not want the school district to feel pressured to participate in the project just to make use of the federal funds.
“I want to spend this money on a childcare facility, but if we don’t because it’s just not going to work then so be it,” Whittlesey said.
