The Eagle has observed a great deal of interest expressed on social media platforms recently for a need for a community children’s play centre in Cochrane.
To date, there is an absence of a private sector children’s play centre, although according to Mike Korman with economic development for the town, there have been recent inquiries made by interested parties from the private sector.
The Eagle spoke with several people who have researched opening a facility in Cochrane — including owner of Great Things in Store Bonnie Bend and former Calgary doggie daycare facility owner Carrie Procinsky.
Bend said while it would be a natural extension for her 11-year-old business of selling new and used children’s clothing and toys, maternity and women’s wear, she can’t justify the high operating costs and the high commercial space rents in Cochrane to start such a venture.
Procinsky echoed similar concerns.
While originally Procinsky had looked into opening a children’s play centre in Cochrane, she quickly began looking at a healthy food service/cafe model instead (and continues to do her research for a business of this sort) due to what she found to be a lack of feasibility for a children’s centre business model.
“The (commercial rent) costs here are insane — even higher than in Calgary,” she said, adding that she sold her successful doggy daycare business of eight years to focus on her two young children.
Since moving to Cochrane two years ago, there is nothing she would love more than to start another business in the community she has chosen to raise her family in.
“I just don’t see how a business of this sort could sustain in Cochrane,” she said, adding that the high rental costs can only be sustained by bigger box stores and not by smaller businesses, which is unfortunate because this will likely take away from the ‘small-town feel of Cochrane’.
The Eagle was advised of two individuals who are seriously looking into partnering together to open a children’s play centre in Cochrane, but was unable to connect with them in time for deadline.
The province-funded Western Rocky View Parent Link Centre (PLC) is operated under the umbrella of Cochrane Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) and is located at 127 First Avenue West.
The PLC has a play centre and runs numerous child development, parent education and family support programs (including development screening and referrals) designed for children ages 0-6 years; the play centre is a drop-in facility with no user fees, that runs Monday-Saturday (Monday-Thursday during July and August).
See page 30 in this week’s Eagle to read about the PLC’s nine-year anniversary Feb. 17.
As the number of users continues to grow each year (there were 2,305 users in 2006-2007; 14,796 in 2013-2014) PLC coordinator Kim Krawec said there is no dispute their programs and the play centre are well attended and as Cochrane continues to grow, they will inevitably outgrow the current facility.
“This definitely puts a strain on the resources we have,” said Krawec, adding that while their funding comes from provincial dollars through FCSS, donations are always accepted and additional fundraising initiatives are ongoing to fill the gaps and offer expanded programming. There are also various programs and ‘moms and tots’ groups run by the various churches around Cochrane, as well as play groups hosted in nearby communities such as Bragg Creek and Bearspaw.
“It would be helpful to have something geared to a wider age range,” said Joy Jenson, Cochrane mother of three. “The PLC is absolutely wonderful for babies and young children, but I am finding my almost five-year-old is outgrowing the play centre.”
Jenson said a play centre with areas for different ages, play and climbing structures and considerable space to open up free play would likely be well used in Cochrane.
Several inquiries have been brought up on social media and through interview with the Eagle wondering if the Spray Lake Sawmills (SLS) Family Sports Centre would consider positioning a dedicated play centre in the facility. The SLS Centre took over the facility gym in January and has changed their pricing strategy as they move toward making their facility the ‘one stop shop’ for families.
A survey asking for public feedback on how to improve the SLS Centre recently wrapped up.
Located at the sports centre are bouncy castles, which vary in availability due to renting out the space for corporate events and birthday parties.
There is also a drop-in gymnastics centre on site available for parented use at various times.
According to Robin Mitchell, general manager for the SLS Centre, there is a possibility of either leasing space to a third-party operator or considering opening some type of a ‘24/7 play centre’ for children at the centre in the future — but everything is just a consideration at present time.
Mitchell did acknowledge the growing need for some type of full-time play centre, catering to various ages of children, in the near future as young families continue to migrate to Cochrane.
According to Krawec, an Alberta Education study shows that children in Cochrane are slightly lagging behind the province average in a number of areas early childhood development.
The research study is called the Early Child Development Mapping Project (ECMap) and was conducted through Alberta Education.
The ECMap looked at five different developmental domains – emotional maturity, communication and general knowledge, physical health and wellbeing, social competence and language and thinking skills.
Krawec said it’s difficult to pin down any single factor contributing to these numbers, but did suggest there may be a correlation with a lack of ‘free play’ and too much focus on ‘structured play’.
According to Dr. Jane Hewes, chair of the Early Learning and Child Care program at Grant MacEwan University in Edmonton, the restriction of play in young children is creating negative affects on development.
Hewes said that children’s environments are too structured and too much emphasis is placed on the preparation of young children for ‘readiness for school’.
“Parenting is one of the hardest jobs in the world and all parents need support,” said Krawec.
“Parenting success is strongly linked to informal, community-based supports and the availability of quality parenting resources and programs.”
The PLC can be reached at 403-851-2256.
