Sanborn, Iowa (RI/KIWA) — Construction work will start next week on renovating a vacant memory care unit of a northwest Iowa nursing home to become a daycare center with room for 120 kids. Melissa Michels, director of Kids Express Daycare in Sanborn, says there’s a childcare crisis in the region, and this will be a huge step forward.
Officials with the daycare and the nursing home say the kids and the residents will see benefits from sharing the space. Wendy Nelson, administrator of Prairie View Home, tells us they will be repurposing a building.
The wing was closed due to staffing issues after COVID. It had been a memory care unit since 1999.
She says they hope to hire a music and art teacher who could handle the residents and children together.
Instead of buying land and building a new facility, the daycare will be able to move into the space that’s been vacant since 2022, providing what officials say is a more cost-effective, eco-friendly option. The neighboring businesses will be among the first in Iowa to offer intergenerational care for Sanborn’s youngest residents and those in assisted living.
Michels agrees, saying the collaboration will be a win-win for both groups.
The building is being renovated for the use, and the planning is done by CMBA Architects. That firm’s principal architect, Courtney Koch, says the idea was compelling.
The project will cost over a million dollars and is being funded in part through donations and grants. It’s hoped the new Sunrise Express Daycare Center will open in September.
Photo Courtesy LS2 Group/CMBA Architects
