An announcement years in coming was finally made to a packed room of interested community members on Friday: Lansdowne Children’s Center has been approved for a new home.
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“We are building a new children’s treatment center right here in Brantford,” said Michael Parsa, Ontario Minister of Children, Community and Social Services, to sustained applause and cheers from board members, local politicians, employees and parents of clients.
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An emotional MP Will Bouma said he has been pushing the provincial government toward the moment since being elected, and long-time facility executive director, Rita-Marie Hadley expressed relief that the many services of Lansdowne will be consolidated under a new roof.
“We try to make sure the families don’t feel the inaccessibility of (this building) but we’ve grown to serve communities like Caledonia, Dunnville and Simcoe so we’ve gotten very creative. We rent a lot of space in the community.”
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The center also has to move needed equipment around to accommodate various services – a practice that tends to slow how quickly clients can be seen.
Bouma introduced Parsa, who said he was moved by a tour of Lansdowne that Bouma had arranged last August where he could see how the employees were using the space in the best ways possible.
The center serves thousands of children and youth who have communication, developmental and physical challenges, has thousands more on a wait list and sees the looming growth of the city will bring even more clients.
The agency celebrates its 50th anniversary this year and has now been in the old Jane Laycock School for 25 years.
“My impatience is for the kids,” said Hadley, who helped launch an online push last year using a letter-writing campaign asking for a new facility.
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A new site for the center may be in the Mohawk Lake District being developed by the city. While Lansdowne has a memo of understanding with the city about purchasing land there, Hadley said the agency still needs to proceed with caution.
At this point, the size of the center hasn’t been determined – but it will be gauged in “multiples” of the current size – and the cost of the project can’t even be estimated.
There will also be a community campaign to assist with furnishings and items not covered by government assistance.
Parsa said the Lansdowne plan is part of the government’s move to modernize children’s treatment centers across Ontario, including ones in Ajax, Ottawa, Chatham-Kent and relocating one in Sudbury.
The Lansdowne project enters ‘Stage 1’ of a plan to calculate the scope, budget and timelines of the work ahead.
@EXPSGamble
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