Paul Bickford
Northern News Services

Hay River (May 13/02) - The Hay River play school will soon be moving to a new location.

That follows an ann-ouncement May 9 by the NWT Housing Corporation that it will donate two lots of land for the site of a new play school.

The ann-ouncement was made by NWT Housing Corporation president Tom Beaulieu.

The play school is currently located on Caribou Crescent, and it will be simply moving to the other side of the road.

"We think we have a solution that will work for the play school," said Hay River North MLA Paul Del-orey.

The MLA noted the play school can sell its current property and use the money to help construct a new building.

School president Melanie Carter expressed thanks to Allen for understanding its current predicament. "As a result, the future of the Hay River play school is looking a lot brighter."

Carter explained that the current location is getting rundown.

"It's an extremely old house," she said, estimating its age at over 50 years. "It's been showing its age."

And she said the current building, which was purchased in 1993, is not worth investing any money into.

The mortgage on the current building was paid off in 1999 and fundraising has been ongoing for the last three years for a new building.

"We're hoping the building will be erected this summer," Carter said.

She noted there are five available lots of land from which the play school can select its new site, and she estimated the value of the donation at about $50,000.

The land had previously been considered for a young offenders facility, but that idea was dropped because of public opposition.