“Small Town, Big Adventures” Coming to Life at YMCA’s Learn and Play Enrichment Center

The Limestone Family YMCA Daycare has branched out to a new location.

In partnership with the Mason County School System and Superintendent Rick Ross, the YMCA is now utilizing the old Middle School building as its daycare facility.

The new daycare facility is currently operating out of five rooms but the expansion will reach throughout all the classrooms in the back hallway and will be able to accommodate more kids.

The daycare is accessible through the back door of the former middle school building where individuals will be buzzed in on a necessary basis.

“We love this because just the security of it, because you have to be buzzed in. The school system has just been phenomenal,” said Tonya Wenz, director of the YMCA Daycare. “One room will be used as a community space for parents to get to do things with their kids such as a “muffins with mom” day or “donuts with dad.”

The space is also equipped for cooking classes with the daycare kids should that be desired.

The other rooms in the hallway will be mostly classrooms for the various age groups.

It should also be noted that International Paper has funded a new curriculum for the daycare which is tailored for early learning programs that include many areas of child development including language, cognitive, physical and social development.

“Anything that happens in this whole building will align not only line up with the YMCA’s mission but about kids and youths,” said Wenz.

The middle school features lots of murals in the classrooms. The group is hoping to save as much as possible in the renovation process.

Since the middle school recently vacated the premises, the building is complete with a full cafeteria with a commercial grade kitchen.

“We’re going to be able to do some really cool things in here, just community-based,” said Wenz.

Wenz continued by saying the kitchen is fully stocked and employees are in the beginning stages of learning how to use it all.

”We are on the state food program so we feed our daycare as well as lots of other kids in the community so the expansion and capability of expanding that for us is amazing,” Wenz explained.

Wenz said she could foresee the cafeteria being used for preschool graduations, Christmas plays and even Thanksgiving meals with parents in the future.

There is currently no plan for the gym but Wenz wants to be able to use it to possibly bring in more teens and older kids.

Wenz explained that Comprehend has become the first community partner with the building meaning that they will be leasing space from the building once it is available.

Wenz stated that any non-profit organization will be able to lease space from the building as long as it aligns with the YMCA’s mission and values.

“We’re allowed to lease to nonprofits so if you’re a 501c-3 come talk to me,” said Wenz.

Wenz and her team have some other big ideas on the horizon such as the possibility of utilizing the music room for Kindermusik classes, adding a sensory room, and using the existing art room for rotating art classes done by local artists.

“It’s such an artistic hub around here and we’ve got so many awesome local artists, I would love to be able to see if any of them would like to partner with us and hold workshops in whatever their medium would be,” said Lola Gentry of the YMCA.

“We just want it to be successful and for people to be excited about it,” said Wenz regarding all the new changes. “We want everything to supplement what we’re doing with childcare. But what we want to do is have lots of services and programs and things for them to do.”

Wenz and her team also have some big ideas regarding what to do with parts of the building that are not specific to the daycare, which will be admission-based, so non-YMCA members will be able to take part as well.

Wenz and her team are envisioning indoor putt-putt golf courses, a preteen cafe, a build-a-bear-esque experience, a movie room, and perhaps the most anticipated of all ideas is their Mini Maysville/Mason County concept.

The room that was previously the Mason County Middle School Library is primed to become a play space that resembles different businesses in the area.

“We want it to look like a small version of what our town looks like,” said Wenz.

The room will be tagged “Small town, big adventures.”

The hope is that different area businesses will partner with the YMCA to sponsor a small build-out room that resembles their business.

Gentry said that she brought up the idea a while ago but the space just wasn’t there at the YMCA so when the new building was acquired the idea came back around.

“It was when we were talking about essentially putting play space in the Y, and then I had seen places like this, obviously, at children’s museums, and we didn’t really have the room at the Y to have it at that scale. When we got this space, the idea took off from there,” said Gentry.

Attached to the library is a room that can be transformed into a gaming room for older kids who still want to take part. There are also several rooms nearby that will be used as party rooms to host birthday parties and such.

Wenz said that she realized that there are lots of moving parts that accompany these plans but she and her team are excited to watch things come to life.

“We’re trying not to overwhelm ourselves either. The first phase was getting our daycare here. Phase two is adding rooms and then phase three is Mini Maysville/Mason County and building community partners,” stated Wenz.

Maysville Mason County Industrial Development Authority Executive Director Tyler McHugh is looking forward to the impact this business will have on the community.

“The addition of the Learn and Play Enrichment Center, led by the Maysville YMCA, is an amazing contribution for economic development and growth in our town. Having safe and reliable child care is a prerequisite for a community like Maysville, that is open to attracting new businesses and employers. After touring the facility and seeing all the amazing work they have done along with the boundless potential this site has, I am very excited about the positive impact in the community we will see,” McHugh stated.

Mason County Judge-Executive Owen McNeill has spoken with Wenz and her team at length about the project and everything it entails.

“I’m incredibly excited about the expansion of the YMCA’s Learn & Play Enrichment Center at the former Mason County Middle School. Childcare has grown to become a top three workforce and economic issue across Kentucky and the US that Maysville and Mason County isn’t immune from. The ability to provide daycare in a safe, affordable and effective environment such as the YMCA is invaluable for our community, parents and our workforce,” McNeill stated.

“Along with the added childcare and educational opportunities the YMCA’s Learn & Play Enrichment Center brings to Maysville and Mason County, I think it’s important to highlight and applaud how well some of our main institutions are working together to provide these community benefits. Superintendent Rick Ross and Mason County leadership should be applauded, as should all those who’ve worked hard to bring this partnership to fruition as I believe it will grow to produce additional community benefits in the future,” McNeill concluded.

Any local business interested in becoming a community partner may email Wenz at [email protected] or call the YMCA and ask for Tonya.