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Millennium Place turns down offers to run daycare

Whistler-Blackcomb disappointed by decision

The Teddy Bear Daycare in Maurice Young Millennium Place will cease operations on June 30, despite last minute offers by Whistler-Blackcomb and Mark Warner Group to take over operation of the space.

In the end the decision to close the facility was made by Millennium Place’s board of directors, and was based on the community’s needs for a centre for arts and culture, a $30,000 reduction in funding from the municipality, and concerns that accepting outside funding for the daycare would impact Millennium Place’s charitable status.

As well, the Millennium Place board said there was ample daycare space for kids aged 3-5 in Whistler, and that the “primary concern of parents/children is continuity with childcare staff and friends — not physical space.”

At Tuesday’s council meeting, Councillor Ralph Forsyth took issue with the board’s decision and put forward a motion to refer the board’s decision to staff and pursue the option of finding a third party to operate the space.

With ownership of Millennium Place being transferred to the municipality, the discussion also raised the issue of who would call the shots for the facility — the Resort Municipality of Whistler or the board of directors for the society that currently runs Millennium Place.

“We have a building here built with donated funds from the Whistler-Blackcomb Foundation, and I think that the highest and best use of this building we are pending to take over is what is best for the taxpayers,” said Forsyth. “I try to look at what is sustainable about ripping out little sinks, little cubbies. Once that infrastructure is gone, it never comes back.”

While there is currently ample space in other daycares, as well as an application by Mark Warner Group to build another daycare in the village, Forsyth said the decision was being made without looking at the long-term needs of the community.

“If we decide in a year’s time that we do need a daycare, we’ll have to rebuild it again.”

Forsyth said he would also like to know what the budgetary implications would be of removing the space, and get a legal opinion on whether allowing a third-party operator would impact Millennium Place’s charitable status.

As for the rationale that arts and culture were identified as a priority for the community, he said he municipality has already been supportive of the arts, but would side with families every time.

“You are kicking out kids to pay for artists, that actually is the case,” he said.

Other councillors sympathized, but rejected the motion for a variety of reasons.

Eckhard Zeidler said federal and provincial governments have the responsibility for funding daycares, and he was protecting families in Whistler by protecting taxpayers from taking on that responsibility.

Forsyth pointed out that taxpayers already fund daycare and childcare programs at Myrtle Philip and Spring Creek schools, but said that he wasn’t suggesting that the municipality pay — only that the municipality find a way to find funding from a third party like Whistler-Blackcomb.

Councillors Bob Lorriman and Nancy Wilhelm-Morden argued that the decision was ultimately the responsibility of the Millennium Place Society, the same way that the library board manages the Whistler Public Library and Tourism Whistler runs the Whistler Golf Club.

In the end Forsyth’s motion failed, with no other council members taking his side.

The Maurice Young Millennium Place Society acknowledged in a letter that while it was a difficult decision, they stood by the decision they made earlier to close the space.

“Even upon reflection in light of this new information (interest by Whistler-Blackcomb and Mark Warner Group), our Board recommendation has not changed: the highest and best use of Millennium Place — include the daycare space — is as the functional hub and physical home of Whistler’s emerging cultural precinct.

“Could we have done more? Perhaps. But given the time and funding realities we face, we are certain that our decision is very well informed.”

Whistler-Blackcomb was disappointed with the decision to close the space before they had a chance to discuss alternatives. According to Dave Brownlie, chief operating officer for Whistler-Blackcomb, the closure will impact several of its employees. The fact that the daycare operated on Saturday was of particular interest to staff members who work on weekends.

“What happened is that when news (of the closure) was made public, there was some staff, particularly in our ski school area, that were very concerned and said we should look at it and see if we could operate it — not as a business opportunity, but more in keeping a community facility open,” Brownlie said.

“The reality is that Millennium Place never invited a proposal for the space, but it’s obvious that things were outstanding from our point of view, and what we wanted to do was sit down, understand it, and talk about what we could do to keep it open. We never had that opportunity.”

The decision to close may be the right one in the end, but Brownlie says they should have been afforded a chance to look at the issues and to look ahead at the community’s future daycare needs. And while there is space at Spring Creek, Brownlie says it’s not a good option for employees who are coming from the north end of down and will have to make two trips to Spring Creek daily for the daycare.

“Technically we may have enough spaces for that age group, but we don’t know what tomorrow is going to bring,” he said. “The reality is that this was a purpose-built space, there was a tremendous amount of investment, and to walk away before we know our needs as a community doesn’t make a lot of sense.”

As well, Brownlie is on the board for the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation, and says the foundation’s initial investment of $400,000 in Millennium Place, plus addition funds for the outside playground, were made specifically because of the daycare facility.

“We’ve donated to other things in Millennium Place, but the key donations have been for daycare because of the needs of the community, and the whole aspect of flexibility it offered to our staff, and other employees in the resort,” he said. “From that perspective, it’s a real disappointment.”

– With files from Claire Piech