WEYBURN – Work on renovations for the Family Place’s new location, and a new larger addition to the building, was officially launched on Wednesday.
Executive director Dawn Gutzke introduced Kevin Melle as the project manager, and Chase Johnson Construction as the general contractor for project, which will take about six months to complete.
The new home for the Family Place is the former Dance Zone building on McLelland Street just off Fifth Avenue North in Weyburn, and it will house the new Weyburn Family Resource Centre.
The Family Place has entered a partnership with the Holy Family Roman Catholic Separate School Division to operate the new centre, and through this partnership, have procured funding of $215,000 from the provincial government to go towards the new building.
The plans are to break ground for the new addition soon, with the aim for construction to be completed by early next spring, by March or April, said Gutzke.
She added that all normal programs of the Family Place will continue in their current location at Fourth Street, including the Sunny Scholars summer program in July and August.
The Family Place has received some funding and took out a loan to help get the construction project, and Gutzke said they will be seeking out additional sponsorship to help get the loan paid off as soon as possible. This will not impact the funding they have to operate their current programs.
“We’re thrilled to be the general contractor on this project, working with the Family Place. The addition onto their new home will allow them to grow and continue to support the families and kids in this community,” said Johnson, who attended the launch with his wife Whitney, and daughters Sadie and Lainey.
He noted the Dance Zone building currently had about 1,300 square feet of space, and the addition will have about 2,800 square feet to bring the new facility to a total of 4,300 square feet, including the basement space.
The funds, passed on through Holy Family, will help the project to go ahead with the renovations, such as a new office space, play rooms and teachers room, plus to cover administrative fees for Holy Family and the Family Place, as well to help buy resources for the new centre.
This community centre will focus on all families with young children to provide free, flexible programming that builds relationships between caregivers and children.
