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September 10, 2025

Rangeley’s first child care center considered key to building workforce

An exterior view of a white-sided building and piles of soil. Photo / Courtesy Rangeley Child Care Center The center has five classrooms: infants, toddlers, age 2, age 3 and pre-school, each opening to its own age-appropriate playground. 
By Laurie Schreiber

The Franklin County town of Rangeley, population 1,222, will soon see the opening of its first child care center — considered key to building the area’s workforce.

The project was led by the Beth Brunswick Memorial Fund for Children.

"There are not enough child care slots in town and the population is growing. Businesses are unable to hire and retain workers due to the dearth of child care availability," Ellen Oppenheim, chair of the fund's board of directors, told Mainebiz.

A ribbon-cutting for the Rangeley Child Care Center is scheduled for Sept. 27.

The project broke ground a year ago at 85 Loon Lake Road, contiguous to the Rangeley Lakes Regional School. 

An empty room with a floor that has cardboard taped to it.
Photo / Courtesy Rangeley Child Care Center
The Rangeley Child Care Center meets a pressing need for working families.

 

Rangeley has never had a licensed child care center on the order of what was built, for 48 children from 6 weeks through school age and a curriculum-based environment that scaffolds directly into the public school, said Oppenheim.

Statewide child care efforts

The Rangeley center is part of a trend designed to support working families and support employee recruitment.

Earlier this month, the Bath Area Family YMCA opened an early learning center in Brunswick, to provide 120 child care slots for the children of Bath Iron Works workers with additional availability for the broader community. Last month, Bath Area Family YMCA broke ground on an early learning center in Bath, also expected to support shipyard workers and the general community.

United 4 Childcare, a nonprofit partner with United Way of Southern Maine, last month said it was in the early stages of orchestrating opportunities for two affordable child care facilities in Freeport and South Portland. In July, Northern Maine Community College in Presque Isle said it would partner with three Aroostook County nonprofits to offer child care on campus.

A Cumberland County nonprofit called Space to Thrive said it would open an  early childhood education facility in Windham next week. Last year, Jackson Lab opened a $4.5 million on-site child care center in Bar Harbor.

Workforce development

In Rangeley, the $3.6 million nonprofit center is seen as key to building the town’s workforce.

Surveys conducted by the fund in 2021 and in 2022 showed that 83% of respondents said they would enroll their children if new, licensed child care options were available and affordable. The fund found that workers who commute into Rangeley have a total of 50 children under the age of 5, where there were fewer than 20 early child care slots available in the town. 

The 4,986-square-foot center, on 2.75 acres, is expected to help serve area businesses by supporting new families that move into the community and need child care in order to join the workforce.

The project budget included the land purchase, all site work, construction, furniture, fixtures and equipment, working capital and contingencies.

Financing included a $1 million grant from the Northern Border Regional Commission, $750,000 in congressional directed spending grant via the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a $250,000 grant from the state Department of Health and Human Services’ child care infrastructure grant program and $1.6 million from foundations and private philanthropy.

TIF grant

Additionally, the project was awarded a tax increment financing, or TIF, grant to provide tuition supplements for eligible families in the unorganized territories surrounding the Rangeley region.

“Our mission is to make child care accessible for every family in our region, and this TIF grant is a huge step toward that goal,” said George Bernstein, vice chair of the center’s board of directors. “Families in the unorganized territories often face unique challenges in accessing services, and this support will make a real difference.”

The center will strive to meet the professional development requirements through a state program called Maine Roads to Quality, said Bernstein. Meeting those requirements will allow the center to accept funds through the state’s child care affordability program, or CCAP, which helps eligible families pay for child care.

Typically, said Bernstein, there is a months-long wait list for families that qualify for CCAP to receive the money. The TIF grant will provide tuition subsidies for families from the unorganized territories while they’re on the CCAP wait list.  

For children not in the unorganized territories, the center has raised an additional $445,000 for their support. 

Wrap-around programs

Being next to the Rangeley Lakes Regional School allows the center “to easily offer programs like a preschool wrap-around program to care for preschool age children after the public school half day program ends, without parents worrying about how to transport their children to additional care during the day,” he said.

The center has five classrooms: infants, toddlers, age 2, age 3 and pre-school.  Each classroom opens to its own age-appropriate playground. 

There’s an indoor gross motor skills room, director’s office, mechanicals room, a small warming kitchen, staff rest room and staff/ conference Room.  

A focus will be on school readiness. 

“The center will have specific curriculum for every age group, focused on numeracy, literacy, critical thinking and imagination, and social emotional learning,” said Bernstein. 

The curriculum is aligned with the Rangeley Lakes Regional School's preschool and kindergarten programs to assure school readiness for children entering the public school.

Pressing need

The project team included general contractor H.E. Callahan Construction Co. in Auburn and architect Mark Pavey of the Children’s Design Group, a child care facility design specialist in Alabama. 

“We have been thrilled with the work of both these essential contractors,” said Oppenheim.

The need for affordable child care is pressing, said Bernstein.

“The state of Maine has made significant strides in supporting child care and child care affordability,”  he said. “Now the area will have a child care center that can take advantage of many of the state's generous programs for Maine citizens.”

Added Oppenheim, “This center will be transformational for the town, as the children will be school ready when they reach kindergarten, and business growth will be enhanced.”

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