THE Centre for Child Development held an open house on Tuesday for community members to take a tour of their facility at 9460 140th Street in Surrey, meet their staff and learn about their programs and services that they provide to children and youth with special needs and how they can help with their Phase 2 Renovation and Expansion Campaign.
Originally built in 1974, the centre’s building is now nearing the end of its useful cycle and consequently, its maintenance costs are 50 per cent higher than the standard for a building of this construction type, age and operation.
The centre created a facility master plan which took a number of options into consideration to address the building issues it faces. This included rebuilding with an estimated cost of $15.8 million – or leasing facilities with an estimated cost of $840,000 per year.
It was decided in this challenging fiscal environment to renovate and expand the existing building at a cost of $5.5 million, which will be done through a phased approach.
Phase 1 will commence this summer to remediate and repair the building, replace the roofing system, retrofit the existing heating and cooling system for the entire building. This would create significant savings in the maintenance and energy costs.
In Phase 1, the centre will also convert the lower level and expand Sophie’s Place Child Advocacy Centre to the entire upper floor.
