The City of Montrose is moving forward with plans to transform a former school district building into a new childcare facility, a project officials hope will address one of the most pressing challenges facing families in the region: finding affordable, reliable care.

The $850,000 project calls for retrofitting a city-owned building (which was being leased to Montrose County School District) on South 9th Street into a four-classroom center with space for up to 50 children, ranging in age from six weeks to five years. Construction bids were reviewed this summer, and staff recommended awarding a $530,000 contract to Stryker & Company, the lowest-cost and highest-scoring bidder. With design work complete and funding already budgeted, Public Works Director Jim Scheid said work could be finished by late February.

“This is a pretty exciting project, and it’s been in the works for a while,” Scheid told City Council at a recent work session. Council member J. David Reed added: “This has been in the works for two years now, and finally coming to fruition.”

Needs Assessment: A Childcare Desert

The push for a city-backed childcare facility stems from a 2021 childcare needs assessment conducted by Root Policy Research, which painted a stark picture of supply and demand in Montrose County. The report identified the area as a “childcare desert,” with only 741 licensed slots available for more than 2,600 children under the age of six.

About 69 percent of children under six in the county live in households where all parents are in the workforce, meaning most families require some form of care. The gap between demand and licensed capacity left hundreds of children without access to formal care.

The shortage is especially acute for infants. The assessment found that across all providers in the county, there were only 32 licensed infant slots, plus a small number offered by family childcare homes. Parents reported waitlists stretching months or longer, with many unable to secure care at all.

For families who could find a spot, affordability remained a barrier. Infant care in Montrose was estimated at $800 to $1,000 per month — a steep cost in a county where median household income trails the state average.

The economic impacts ripple far beyond individual households. Root Policy estimated that the $7.3 million spent annually on childcare in Montrose supports about $16 million in immediate economic gains, plus an additional $50 million in enabling benefits and $9.5 million in long-term returns through workforce stability and child development outcomes.

Community Development Director Jace Hochwalt said those numbers are more than abstract statistics — they mirror challenges the city itself has faced as an employer.

“We heard from city staff that we were having issues reserving childcare spots and we were losing staff because of it, or just not getting staff to relocate here because of it,” Hochwalt said in an interview.

When the school district lease expired on the South 9th Street building, the city saw an opportunity. “It was set up well. It was just the right size,” Hochwalt said. “Over the past year we’ve been going through design of that building, knowing it was previously a daycare facility. It really was a great retrofit opportunity.”

How it will work

The facility will feature four classrooms: one infant room, two toddler rooms, and one preschool classroom. It will serve up to 50 children total, with enrollment priority first going to city employees. Slots not filled by staff will be opened to other large public-sector employers, such as Montrose County and the Recreation District, before becoming available to the general public.

Hours are planned from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, a longer day than most existing Montrose centers. That was intentional, Hochwalt said, because many local childcare providers open later, creating scheduling conflicts for parents working 10-hour city shifts.

“That was one thing we heard from staff — that facilities here don’t open until 7:30 or 8:00,” Hochwalt said. “Having more flexibility in hours was a big component to kind of help make things work a little bit better.”

The city does not plan to run the facility itself. Instead, officials issued a request for proposals earlier this year to find a qualified nonprofit operator. Discussions with a finalist are underway, Hochwalt said, with an announcement expected soon.

“We’re not the experts in childcare,” he said. “We felt like it was important to get an operator on board who knows the business.”

Looking to other models

Montrose is not the first community to experiment with employer-based childcare. Hochwalt pointed to Grand Junction, where the city operates a facility in-house through its recreation department, and to Community Hospital in Grand Junction, which opened a childcare center but contracts out daily operations to a nonprofit.

Hochwalt said Montrose is following the latter model. “We looked at what other communities were doing,” he said. “We don’t have a recreation department like Grand Junction, so we felt like the Community Hospital approach — where you partner with an outside provider — was the better fit.”

While 50 slots will not close the county’s childcare gap on their own, city leaders say the project is a meaningful step in the right direction. It demonstrates a willingness to use municipal resources to address a challenge that affects not just families but employers and the broader economy.

The facility also sends a message to prospective residents and businesses that Montrose is working to build the infrastructure needed to support a growing workforce. “This is about plugging a community-wide gap that’s costing residents — and the local economy — dearly,” Hochwalt said.

Timeline and next steps

The City Council is expected to vote on final contract authorization soon. If construction begins this fall, officials say the center could be operational by early spring. The budget is spread across two years, with $600,000 allocated in 2025 and $250,000 in 2026.

For Hochwalt, who joined the city staff three years ago after working in Grand Junction, the project is as personal as it is professional. “I’ve got a kiddo myself,” he said. “It’s one of those things you don’t fully appreciate until you’re dealing with it firsthand. We’re excited to help out and hopefully get this operational here in spring of 2026.”

Justin Tubbs is the Montrose Business Times editor. He can be reached by email at justin@montrosebusinesstimes.com or by phone at 970-765-0915 or mobile at 254-246-2260.