An aerial rendering of Discovery Village, the CLC YMCA’s future nature-based childcare program. The organization will break ground on the project during its annual celebration on Wednesday, May 20. (Courtesy photo)
After over three years of planning and fundraising, CLC YMCA will break ground for its new nature-based childcare center during the organization’s annual meeting on Wednesday, May 20.
Named Discovery Village, the program will take root next to the organization’s building at 525 Main St. in Damariscotta, bringing all of the CLC YMCA’s year-round programs to one location.
“We’re at an exciting time for our Y and our community,” CLC YMCA CEO Casey Clark Kelley said. “After years and years of research, exploration, and planning, we’re finally able to move forward with an exciting early education campus for our Y families.”
The Y’s childcare offerings have been at the forefront of the board of directors’ planning for at least a decade, according to Clark Kelley. The program and its future growth were taken into consideration in the planning stages of the major expansion and renovation of the facility, which was completed in May 2018.
For over a decade, the CLC Y’s childcare program has been housed at 8 Sand Hill Drive in Nobleboro, almost 3 miles from its Damariscotta campus. The program currently has capacity to serve 42 children ranging in age from 6 weeks to 5 years old. However, the Nobleboro facility is ill-suited for an expanded program.
“We had identified that staying in Nobleboro wouldn’t be a suitable location for childcare, because that facility required significant investment,” Clark Kelley said. “It would be an incredibly expensive renovation because of the structure of the building and the layout.”
CLC YMCA leadership sought other solutions to expand the program, including leasing or purchasing another building or partnering with community organizations for shared space opportunities, when a unique possibility popped up.
“Through all the iterations of planning and consideration, we came across the opportunity to swap facilities with the (American) Legion,” Clark Kelley said.
Ryan Coffin, commander of American Legion Wells-Hussey Post 42, at 527 Main St., and Clark Kelley talked about the interest their respective organizations would have in the other’s building. While an evaluation of the Legion’s building concluded it would also need substantial investment in order to house a childcare program, the trade will still ultimately result in the growth of the CLC YMCA campus footprint, Clark Kelley said.
With the need to find a place to temporarily move the program once the swap took place, CLC YMCA leadership visited another neighbor, Great Salt Bay Community School.
“We started looking at maybe using a mobile classroom to temporarily house the program while we came up with a more permanent solution,” Clark Kelley said. “We went next door to look at (GSB’s) mobile classroom and on the walk we saw the school’s yurt. It was a moment of ‘Oh, yurts. We never considered that as a temporary solution.’”
Members of the CLC YMCA team began researching what it would take to construct a yurt on the Damariscotta campus to serve as an interim home for the childcare program. It soon became apparent that the temporary fix could be a longer-term solution, Clark Kelley said.
“As we were looking into the lifespan and durability of the yurts, we realized maybe it didn’t need to be a temporary thing,” Clark Kelley said. “We started bouncing (the idea) of key stakeholders, and the more we talked about it, the more excited people got. Staff wanted to work in the program, donors wanted to support it, families were like ‘Yes, that is what we want for our kids.’”
Basing the program in yurts also presented the CLC YMCA with the opportunity to transition its curriculum from its traditional format to have a more nature-based focus, Clark Kelley said.
“We think it’s such a unique opportunity for these young children to be able to start their education in this type of setting,” Clark Kelley said. “It’s kind of magical. It allows the child to be more self-exploratory in the outdoors.”
Discovery Village will be made up of five yurts – four classrooms and one administrative office, all connected by a series of wooden walkways – all with a kitchenette, washer, dryer, and restroom as well as commercial-grade heating and cooling. The year-round program will serve children from 6 weeks to 5 years old.
Construction will begin in mid-May with the goal of being completed by September. Partnering with the CLC YMCA on the project are Wright-Ryan Construction, of Portland, and 44 North Architects, of Newcastle.
Once Discovery Village is up and running, the building swap with the American Legion will be completed. The CLC YMCA has put together a campus planning task force to evaluate potential uses for the facility as well as possible future expansions to the campus, Clark Kelley said.
The CLC YMCA is fundraising for a comprehensive capital campaign to support Discovery Village. Because childcare costs exceed what families can afford, the Y significantly subsidizes the cost of childcare enrollment annually despite continuing to carry mortgage debt.
The Discovery Village campaign aims to expand access to nature-based learning while reducing that debt to ensure long-term financial sustainability and affordability. During the silent phase of fundraising, the CLC YMCA raised 82% of total $4 million goal, according to Clark Kelley.
“As we look ahead, Discovery Village represents what’s possible when a community comes together with a shared purpose,” Clark Kelley said. “This is just the beginning, and we can’t wait to see the impact it will have for generations to come.”
The CLC YMCA’s annual celebration and Discovery Village groundbreaking will take place from 5-7 p.m. on May 20 at its facility. For more information or to RSVP, go to clcymca.org.
