NTV: New childcare center to buy old Wood River nursing home
WOOD RIVER, Neb. — The group behind an effort to bring a new childcare center to Wood River said they have plans to buy a recently-closed nursing home.
Wood River Vision 20/20 and Stick Creek Kids Child Development Centerannounced Wednesday that they will be purchasing the former Good Samaritan Society-Wood River building for a reduced market rate of $100,000 on the building with a $1.4 million tax assessed value.
“While closing Good Samaritan Society – Wood River was a difficult decision, we are excited and grateful that the building will continue to serve the community in such an important way,” Good Samaritan Society Regional Vice President Nate Schema said. “We’re looking forward to seeing how Stick Creek Kids uses the space for its own mission.”
“We were all disheartened to hear the news that Good Samaritan Society – Wood River was closing and there was nothing we could do to change their mind. Once that was known, we did consider that this may be a good fit for our project,” Sara Arnett explained. “There were several moving pieces and we’re fortunate that things fell into place on this transaction. We look forward to closing on July 12 and begin working on plans for remodeling.”
Chelsie Doane added, “We’re very appreciative of Good Samaritan’s support of our vision to keep Wood River growing while helping families find reliable, quality early childhood education for their children. Because this property is considerably larger than our original plans, we’re excited to be looking into possible partnerships that would be a good fit for the community.”
Those behind the project say it's been driven by Wood River Vision in response to a critical shortage of child care in central Nebraska.
They said the Stick Creek Kids capital campaign currently stands at roughly $1.4 million with a goal of nearly $2,000,000 to remodel and furnish the new non-profit child care center to serve children ages 6 weeks to 12 years. Any excess funds will be held in a fund to help provide long-term financial sustainability and provide scholarships for low income children to attend the center.