The Thinking Garden Early childhood Centre is in need of the communities help in order to save the Lantzville Heritage Church.

At the beginning of May, we received a letter from the District of Lantzville stating they would be shutting our building down on July 21st, 2023. While this issue stems from seismic upgrades needed to the church, The Thinking Garden and the Seaside Community Society have tried to come up with remedies for the issues with no luck. When Thinking Garden entered into rental agreements in 2016 and again in 2022, these seismic or safety concerns were never clearly indicated and we signed into rental contracts in good faith that the building was safe for children and our program.The validity of these engineering reports provided have been called into question, as the engineer who created them has been dismissed of his title and license to practice as a disciplinary action.

The District stated they are "not in the Buisness of childcare" and do not intend to use any of their reserve fund in order to save the church for the Lantzville community and children. Our contracts require six month notice of termination, and while we challenged this eviction; the District holds their stance and is intending to break our legally binding contract while also threatening to change our locks should we not abide by the illegal notice of eviction.

We don't know the true intentions of the districts stance on what they will use or do to our beloved heritage building and we are pleading the community to help us save the church. 

The Thinking Garden currently has 25 children enrolled in the program through full-time and part-time spaces, as well as 100 Lantzville families on a waitlist hoping to join us in the future. The difficult and crucial need to find qualified childcare even has expectant mothers on it, hoping for care in the 2027 school year. Families that join the waitlist often email saying how our Centre is highly spoken about and respected within the small community. The waitlist alone should show the Lantzville Council and community just how crucial this pre-school is, and how desperately the Thinking Garden is needed in the Lantzville community. This eviction will not only put 25 children out of current care, it will also put 5 employees out of work, Early Childhood Educator students from various universities out of a learning practicum setting, and the communities future Lantzville children without a warm, inclusive, nurturing environment to grow. 

Qualified childcare has never been needed more than it is right now, and we need this centre and the valuable spaces it provides to stay open for our local families! By taking our church away, the council is taking away a child’s right to learn, play, grow, and develop in a safe and nurturing environment.

If the District of Lantzville and council are willing to take those opportunities away from children in our own community, what will they take next?
 


Please sign our petition in order to save Lantzville's oldest heritage building and The Thinking Garden Early Childhood Centre. 

PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR MORE INFORMATION:

WWW.THINKINGGARDEN.CA