Halifax daycare, community centre search for new homes as church hall set for demolition

Tenants of a church in Halifax's north end — including a local daycare — are scrambling to find new locations before the building they lease on the property is demolished this summer.

The North End Community Daycare Centre has called the St. Mark's Community Centre home since it was rebuilt in the 1970s after being destroyed in a fire.

But it now faces an uncertain future, according to the daycare's executive director.

"We have nothing firmed up on that at this point," said Karen Wright.

The daycare, which Wright said serves about 65 families in the community, was set to relocate to St. Joseph's-Alexander McKay Elementary. The building housing that school was demolished in 2022, but it's dealing with a delay in construction for the new building. It's now slated to open in September 2025.

That has left the daycare facing 14 months with nowhere to operate, since the demolition of St. Mark's centre is scheduled for late July, Wright said.

It comes as the province deals with an ongoing shortage in child-care spaces and staff. While government-funded fee reductions have begun to bring down the cost of licensed spaces, many working in the sector say demand has increased and facilities are struggling to manage ever-growing waitlists.

The centre is in talks with the provincial Education Department and the Halifax Regional Municipality on possible options, she added, including using portables while the new school is built.

Another option involves leasing a temporary location, but finding a suitable space for a licensed daycare centre poses challenges. Under the Early Learning and Child Care Act, child-care facilities are required to provide an outdoor space for children to play in and separate washrooms for children and staff, among other requirements.

Property was sold last year

Daphne Beeler, warden of St. Mark's parish, said in an interview the demolition follows the sale of the church property in 2023.

"It had become clear that we could no longer maintain our two buildings with the resources available [with] a shrinking congregation," the church said in a letter to the community.

The tenants of the hall were informed of the upcoming demolition in January. Earlier this month, the church held a public meeting to inform the community about the sale and to answer any questions.

The new owner is Cosmos Properties, she said, which will be restoring the church and doing some renovations. The sale agreement also states that the church's hall and playground will be torn down and "an apartment building will be built on that part of the property," according to the letter from the church.

A spokesperson with Halifax Regional Municipality said the church and its hall have recently been consolidated into a single property. A heritage development agreement application and a substantial alteration application has been submitted for the property, Brynn Budden said in an email.

The property's owner is revising the design of the new building based on comments from the municipal review, Budden said. Information about the applications will be made public when it's placed on the heritage advisory committee's agenda sometime this spring, she said.

Beeler said she had "mixed feelings" about the sale, but it has been comforting to know the new owners will be working to maintain the church's history.

"We're in the position where we had to [sell], but we're very happy that we found a buyer who was willing to keep the church intact with one slight modification," she said. "There's a modern extension to the church at the back of it that may get taken off, but otherwise the historic part of the building will stay intact and get improved."

Steven Beeler, the chair of the parish's reuse and redevelopment committee, said they have been dealing with significant costs.

"People think there was a great big windfall here for the church, but there's only 55 people in the parish that look after the operating budget, which is now approaching $200,000 for 2024," he said.

The parish will still face a deficit of $20,000 to $30,000 after the sale, he said, "even after you include what income might be generated from an investment."

Community centre also searching for new space

Along with the daycare, Ward 5 Neighbourhood Centre has also been a tenant of St. Mark's hall for the last 50 years and is similarly in need of a new space.

"We are actively looking. But with the seniors' meal program and the kids' lunch and after school and before school care, there's a lot of factors in place when we're looking," said Susan Nordin, the centre's acting director.

Like the daycare, the Ward 5 centre has specific needs for a new location, including front and back doors and a commercial kitchen.

They are currently in talks with the church for an interim space. Nordin said the ideal outcome would be for the centre to move into the church's basement once that renovation is complete.

Wright said despite the setback, she is hopeful the daycare will find a suitable space until the new elementary school opens.

Krista Higdon, a spokesperson with the provincial Education Department, said in an email they are aware the daycare would be vacating the hall this summer.

"We are actively working with [the] centre and other partners to find a temporary location while the construction of their future site is complete," Higdon wrote.