DEERFIELD TOWNSHIP, Ohio -- The Children's Learning Adventure Childcare Center, originally scheduled to be open in Deerfield Township by the end of summer, is still facing an unknown completion date.
Daniel Petersen, vice president of development for the Children's Learning Center in Arizona, said it's difficult to restart a project, but the facility will open sometime next year.
"We hope your readers who are anxious for us to open can hang tight a little longer. I'm not sure if we'll start up this fall or push to the nicer weather of the spring. We're certainly hoping for fall," he wrote in an email.
"It's been a challenging project," said Sam Hill, Deerfield director of community development. "We've had our legal department reach out to them, but they were very vague. They said it was a private business matter and the township has no authority in ‘handling our private matters.' "
"He has a point," said Hill. "It's not the township's business why it is delayed."
The project stalled in early January after some groundwork had started, including the beginning of a steel framework. In early January, Petersen said the project would start up again in a couple of weeks.
Deerfield Township has been concerned about the delay, said Hill. By March, when Hill was hired, the project had not advanced.
Township officials are concerned about safety on the construction site and the daycare company meeting its commitment.
"There was a huge hole there for a long time," Hill said. "We reached out and asked them to fill the hole. They did do that."
Children's Learning Adventure has a time limit of 36 months on the project, said Hill. The company still has a little more than two years to make progress.
Petersen doesn't see it as a problem. This year the company opened two Ohio centers, in West Chester and Columbus.
"We're very happy with the Cincinnati area, and West Chester is terrific," Petersen wrote. "The school seems to be doing well, so that's not the issue."
Company officials are still looking at the best time to move forward and might wait until spring, he said.
Like West Chester facility, the Deerfield center will take care of children ages 6 to 12, said Petersen.
The license capacity is for more than 500 children in 33,000 square feet of space. West Chester opened March 18. The mega-daycare offers services throughout the year including summer camps.
The pre-school program includes a miniature TV studio, culinary space, math and science lab, bowling alley and basketball courts.
