By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
Significant progress can be seen on the construction of the new childcare center being built at the intersection of 10th Street and K-96 Highway in Great Bend. After breaking ground on the site for the $1.6 million project in July, walls and a roof are in place.
Advancing Barton County Childcare (ABCC) received a $2.23 million grant for childcare development. The grant allowed the committee to announce the future construction of a second facility to be built in Barton County. The childcare center will be constructed in Hoisington, and USD 431 Superintendent Patrick Crowdis said last week that construction should be even quicker for Hoisington’s model.
"In terms of our facility, it should be a cookie-cutter, scaled-down model of what they're actually building in Great Bend," said Crowdis. "In terms of actually building the facility, it should go faster that what it is in Great Bend. GLMV is the architect they will continue to use."
The Great Bend facility will serve up to 59 children aged five years or younger, and will have the potential to expand to over 80 children.
Because there is federal money used, Crowdis said ABCC will need to go back to bid for the builder of the Hoisington daycare.
"We've done a lot of work with GLMV already on this project," said Crowdis. "They already have what we want. Now, it's a matter of fitting that into ABCC. There's a ton of work that has taken place there already."
ABCC was created following conversations with businesses in Barton County that expressed that the lack of childcare was a major barrier to hiring employees.