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Preliminary plans were shared and a facility tour completed Friday morning showing how the former Total Card Inc. building can become a day care facility.
Holly Sammons, Luverne Economic Development director, and John Call, Luverne City Administrator, conducted the building tour for about a dozen people.
To assist in the day care facility’s development, the city is currently working on a bonding proposal to submit to the state of Minnesota. (See related story.)
“It’s large. It’s big and it suits all our needs,” Sammons told tour participants.
The city purchased the 30,000-square-foot facility from Vervent earlier this year.
San Diego-based Vervent purchased Total Card Inc. in November 2020 and closed the call center in March 2021. Twenty-two employees lost their jobs.
The building was listed for sale at $944,700, but the city of Luverne was able to purchase the building in January for $515,000.
“We definitely got a good deal,” Call added.
The building was kept in good shape since the business closure with no mold or damage from non-use detected in the building.
A local non-profit board is working on plans to remodel the building and operate a child care center.
While no specific plans have been approved, two concepts have been developed showing how the open-floor building can accommodate up to 186 children ages 0 to school age and the support staff.
Specific rooms would be developed for infants, pre-schoolers, toddlers and school-aged children. An indoor gymnasium would also be designed in the facility.
The existing building already has an enclosed vestibule, offices, a kitchen area, a conference room, a bathroom and a garage.
More bathrooms would be added along with outdoor play areas developed on the large green space on the building’s south side.
The non-profit board is working with ISG of Sioux Falls on the floor plans and with First Children’s Finance in Minneapolis on the most cost-effective ways to operate the day care.
“The vision is there. The opportunity is there. It’s wonderful it’s coming true,” Sammons said.
The Luverne City Council listed affordable child care as the No. 1 priority during a 2016 planning session.
Sammons said a child care study conducted in 2015 engaged the community to find more child care options for area families.
The options became more limited during the pandemic as in-home child cares closed.
Over the years, various buildings in Luverne were examined for possible conversion to a day care facility. It wasn’t until the Total Card building became available last year that a possible solution presented itself.
“We had to be patient and we’ve been rewarded,” Sammons said.
The current bonding session at the state legislature finishes in May. Projects receiving state bonding are expected to be announced in late May.