River Area Co-operative Day Nursery Inc.(RACD) was founded in 1974, as a non-profit pre-school child care facility in Winnipeg’s Mayfair “Island Area” near the Forks. It is licensed by the Province, operating as a cooperative and provides both evening and shift care.
Licensed for 42 day care spaces (7 AM to 5:45 PM) and 20 evening care spaces (2 PM to 12:30 AM) for children 18 months to eight years. Within the new facility, RACD adds eight preschool/shift-care spaces. Their waiting list had more than 80 children.
RACD was housed at 175A Mayfair Avenue since 1985, in space attached to the administration building of Macdonald Youth Services. In 1998, RACD began to develop a partnership with the landlord to provide an expansion of services. A joint capital campaign was undertaken in 2000 with Macdonald Youth Services to purchase their site and expand their services. However, in early 2004 Macdonald Youth Services advised they would not pursue the building project further. The landlord also informed them they would be unable to renew their lease beyond April 30, 2007; the lease was evidently extended to 2008.
Upon hearing the news, River Avenue Co-operative Day Nursery formed a Committee to look at other alternatives. They were successful in obtaining land at 127 Bell Street from the City of Winnipeg for the nominal sum of $1. In addition, RACD managed to raise $975,500; ($500,000 from Government and community grants, monies set aside by RACD for the project and a $320,000 mortgage) and the Jubilee Fund provided a $155,000 loan guarantee for the construction of a new facility for RACD at a cost $1,256,930. The Daycare held their official grand opening in August 2009.
