Grandview Kids to sell Oshawa location after 60-plus years
By Joel Wittnebel/The Oshawa Express
After more than six decades serving the children of Durham Region, Grandview Kids’ Oshawa location will be put on the market when the organization shifts its headquarters to Ajax.
Speaking at city hall, Lorraine Sunstrum-Mann, the executive director of Grandview, provided councillors with an update on the organization’s current situation and the status of its new headquarters.
This past November, the Town of Ajax donated five acres of land for the new building. To date, Grandview has raised more than $7 million for the project. Currently, the centre is awaiting approval for government funding – as part of that, they must raise $10 million of the expected $44 million for the cost of the new building.
According to Sunstrum-Mann, the Oshawa location at 600 Townline Rd. S. has already received interest from potential buyers who have toured the facility.
And while the organization plans to move their headquarters from the city, it does not mean their services will be gone.
“We will always ensure that we have a location in Oshawa,” Sunstrum-Mann said.
Grandview has been at the current location since 1983. When constructed, it was designed to service 400 children. The centre now services over 5,600 kids with varying disabilities and have 2,600 more on a wait list. By 2031, Grandview expects to be of service to over 10,000 kids each year.
Any new location in Oshawa will be much smaller then the current one, and most likely be partnered with another organization.
“We have had a lot of success in partnerships with schools, but that doesn’t mean we wouldn’t consider another type of partnership,” Sunstrum-Mann says.
No potential locations were identified, but Sunstrum-Mann noted Grandview would prefer to move further south in the city to a location more accessible by transit.
Pending approval of the new facility by the province this year, the foundation hopes to have the new headquarters completed within three to five years.