Bathurst’s new $2 million early learning centre is likely to open in January, with the foundations due to be poured shortly.
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Developer Bruce Bolam said earthworks for the Milestones Early Learning Centre in Stanley Street are almost complete.
The construction work, which will begin soon, is being carried out by Inland Building and Construction.
Mr Bolam said now the site has been cleared and levelled it is apparent just how much land makes up the development.
The first stage will be the construction of the early learning centre, which will be spread over 4000 square metres. The total area of the site is 38,000 square metres.
Mr Bolam said the children who will attend the centre are going to have plenty of room to play and learn.
“It’s a huge block of land. It gives them so much scope,” he said.
“This will not only be a nice building, but there will be lots of land to do different things with the kids.”
Mr Bolam said one of the strengths of the development is its location close to the CBD and the hospital, yet it still has a very country feel.
Milestones Early Learning Centre is owned by Narissa and Quinn King.
They already have two centres in Tamworth, where they are based, and Mrs King said they are excited about progress on the Bathurst addition.
She said they had already received a good number of enrolments.
Mrs King said the state-of-the-art childcare centre will cater for 88 children aged zero to five years.
There will be six specialised rooms, each delivering unique Milestones’ age-specific programs.
Milestones has as its motto “Education and play all in one day”.
Mr King said one of the unique features of Milestones will be a natural outdoor area with farm animals, including chickens, a sheep and some rabbits, plus a dedicated Balinese outdoor art studio and a veggie patch.
He said the children will also eat what they grow in a dining room that is flooded with natural light.
Mr King said the project had been two- and-a-half years in the making.
Yesterday, he and Mrs King saw the site for the first time since it has been cleared.
“It’s a nice flat site that will allow us to do what we want,” he said.
Mrs King said they will be looking to employ a director in the next two months.
The director will not teach so they are always available to the children, parents and staff.
The successful applicant will train for three months in Tamworth before the Bathurst centre opens.
Construction work for the centre should be completed by the end of December.
