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Cranbrook, BC (June 17, 2024) -- There is a desperate need for childcare in Cranbrook as there is in most jurisdictions for young families and working parents with children. This includes both before and after school care, as well as all-day childcare. The Government of BC is offering grants to build childcare buildings, they will cover all the costs for the design and construction of these facilities, they only need the land provided, and the grant availability ends soon. The City is also currently seeking proposals from non-profit operators for this proposed facility, which closes on July 4, 2024.

The City was approached by childcare providers for help, and in turn, the City approached the School District as the Ministry of Education was combined with the Ministry of Children and Family Development to create the New Ministry of Education and Childcare, to provide childcare for the citizens of Cranbrook. After a year of meetings and letters, the City was notified the School District was not moving forward on all-day childcare, instead opting to move forward with before and after school care. This will help to fill part of the needs of many young families; however, it does not meet the needs of dozens of families struggling to find all-day care.

The question then became, does the City get involved to take advantage of the provincial grant, to bring more all-day childcare to Cranbrook at no cost to local taxpayers? The grant deadlines are approaching, and the grant requirement is to provide the land that is appropriately zoned, a building design and budget. Buying land means raising taxes locally to do so, and the School District is not offering up any land. City Administration reviewed all parcels of City-owned land and buildings, including underutilized park spaces, and narrowed the choices to six sites for Council to consider. The City then made the decision to use the large, underutilized space in Gyro Park.

There have been many questions and concerns shared by the public recently around the proposed creation of a brand-new childcare facility to potentially be located in a portion of Gyro Park which was identified as an underutilized area of City-owned land. The reality is the City of Cranbrook owns very little land of any size, with only a handful of locations identified as potential sites for this proposed childcare facility. One location, which has been floated around by residents is the former Muriel Baxter School site, which is currently being used for the Muriel Baxter Dog Park. Although the City has an agreement with School District 5 to use this space for the dog park, the property is owned by the School District, not the City. 

The City stepped up to take this on because there is a significant need for all-day child care locally, and no other local agencies or organizations took the lead, to try to take advantage of these grant dollars.

With the decision of Council to move forward with this grant application, there have been many questions about Municipal Parks in Cranbrook, and exactly what they were set aside or created for. Most parks in Cranbrook were not created for natural habitat preservation. Municipal parks in Cranbrook, including Gyro Park, were created for community recreation uses from the time of their inception. 

Gyro Park, and the majority of all other parks in Cranbrook are zoned Community Recreation (P2 Zone) parks, which are already zoned for daycare uses. These parks are intended for the use and enjoyment by both residents and visitors, and have the following intended uses: 

(a) Community recreation use (all types of recreation)
(b) Library, archives, museum, and art gallery
(c) Community theatre
(d) Tourist information facility
(e) Cemetery and crematorium
(f) Group day care
(g) Community Meeting Facility
(h) Public and Social Services

For more details on the Community Recreation (P2 Zone) parks, please visit: https://cranbrook.civicweb.net/filepro/documents/573/?preview=2028

The proposed new childcare building and parking lot for Gyro Park (see map) will take up about the same amount of space as the pickleball courts. Half of the open area of Gyro Park is to remain, along with all of the existing playground equipment and the pickleball and tennis courts. Any memorial or other newly planted trees on the site can also be moved if required. There may be an opportunity to rebuild the washroom onto the side of the new childcare building with outside access only, to have a warm washroom which would be an additional benefit to all park users. There also may be opportunities to add more playground amenities. 

It is important for residents to recognize that the community would not be losing a park. None of the park amenities, like the playground, swings or the pickleball/tennis court will be disappearing from Gyro Park. What the community will be gaining should our grant application be successful, is vital additional childcare, which is extremely difficult to get, with Gyro Park remaining a vibrant, useful, and enjoyable public space for everyone, and perhaps then also for another 100 Cranbrook children to enjoy.