A Bangor social services agency that serves low- and moderate-income families in Penobscot, Piscataquis and Knox counties is looking to build a new child care center in Bangor.
Penquis CAP has proposed building a roughly 22,000-square-foot child care center to serve up to 200 children ranging in age from infants to age 5, according to the application the organization submitted to the city.
If approved, the facility would be Penquis’ fourth child care center in Bangor and offer more options for parents struggling to find daily care for their children. The lack of available daycare and preschool options and rising costs are forcing families to make tough decisions or barring parents from the workforce entirely.
The proposed single-story building would sit on about 2.4 undeveloped acres off Hillside Avenue, just north of the Hannaford on Broadway. It would offer daycare and preschool with 16 classrooms, a full commercial kitchen and two large rooms for indoor play. Penquis’ application for the building also outlines fenced-in areas where children can safely play outside.
Bangor has 40 child care centers, though 25 had no openings for children younger than 5 as of Monday, according to a database of child care centers operated by the University of Maine.
A January 2023 study by the Bipartisan Policy Center found that 5,427 children in the Bangor region need child care but 561 don’t have access to it because of capacity shortages. Bangor’s child care gap exceeded those of Maine’s other major metropolitan areas, including Portland-South Portland, Lewiston-Auburn and Augusta-Waterville.
The Bangor Planning Board will review Penquis’ application for a land development permit for the project on Tuesday. Penquis did not return request for comment Monday.
The project would disturb more than 20,500 square feet of wetlands, meaning Penquis needs to seek approval from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.
