State licensing regulations mandate that a daycare can temporarily relocate for no more than 90 days, Keller said. Church pastor, the Rev. Damon Curtis, said it could be more than six months before the church can be used.
MORE: Rebuilding after church fire could take ‘6-plus months’
“In this case they’re going to have to need proof that the damage is so extensive that it’s going to take longer than 90 days,” Keller told this news outlet. “They’re going to make the exception (for the church), hopefully.”
Keller said she expects her office to hear something today because there are nearly four dozen children who attend the daycare five days a week.
“When you’ve got 45 kids, that’s 45 working parents that have no idea where to put their children,” Keller said.
Keller, who visited the damaged church on Monday, said, “I can’t imaging how they’re going to bring it back but I know they will.”
Michele Ferguson, office manager of the day care, said the families of Building Strong Foundations are willing to return to the program once the church is rebuilt.
Curtis said most of the damage was contained to the educational wing, and a fire wall protected the sanctuary from the fire, though it suffered major smoke and water damage. The fellowship hall that was built in 1999 also suffered smoke damage.
Another local facility has offered to house the children in the day care system. Curtis declined to release the name of the facility because he wasn’t sure about approvals. He called it a temporary location because the goal is to return the children to the church. Currently, he’s unsure where the children are attending day care.
