03/27/2026
LENOX — After four decades as the town's largest child care provider, the nonprofit Lenox Children’s Center will shut down in five months, leaving 21 infants and toddlers and eight staffers scrambling for options in an area already short on care.
The closure stems from the deteriorating condition of the town-owned former Center Street Elementary School building, which officials say requires nearly $10 million in repairs — far beyond the means of both the nonprofit operator and the town. Despite years of discussion and a recent search for alternative sites, no viable location has emerged, forcing the center to wind down operations by Aug. 31.
"This situation is deeply upsetting," Karen Labanaro, of Lenox Dale, told town officials at the Select Board meeting on Wednesday. Labanaro has a grandchild who attends the center.
Labanaro joined other family and community members who spoke at the meeting in support of the center, urging officials to consider delaying the shutdown to allow families time to secure a new child care placement. Labanaro also pointed out that 30 to 40 families are on the waitlist at the children's center.
Lenox resident Rebecca Lee described her family and others as "in a state of panic."
"The message this sends is deeply troubling, that Lenox is not a place where young families can realistically live and thrive," Lee said. "Finding child care for children under 6 should not be more difficult than gaining admission to college — that's what it's come down to."
According to the center’s Assistant Director Donna Lamke, urgent renovation priorities to the Center Street brick building include a new roof, heating system, repairs to crumbling walls, ADA-code compliance, along with state requirements for a license renewal set to expire this summer.
Acknowledging financial losses, Lamke told The Eagle that “the decision to close was not based on a single year’s financial performance, but on the long-term reality that the facility can no longer support the program. We are incredibly proud of the care and education we have provided to children and families in our community, and this decision was made with deep consideration and regret.”
The center has been leasing the building from the town for $1,600 a month, according to Marianne Vallee, a center staffer since 1999 and director since 2007. A search for a suitable new location that would meet state requirements for day care facilities has come up empty, she said.
It would take a miracle to save the center, Vallee told The Eagle, adding that the ideal location would be another elementary school that’s closing.
Possible new sites scouted recently but to no avail included Lenox Commons, the Brushwood Farm area, all five churches in Lenox, as well as in Pittsfield, Lee and Stockbridge.
Several staffers are lining up new jobs already. If more leave, the center would have to scale back operations during its remaining months.
“We are in a child care desert out here,” Vallee acknowledged. “Infant and toddler care is so scarce. In order to keep working parents here and attract young families, we’re not going to if there’s no child care.”
She contended that upkeep of the building “has never been a priority for the town. But they don’t owe us anything because we’re just private renters.”
Among the town's higher priorities: Financing costs for the $25 million public safety complex, a $45 million federally required upgrade of the wastewater treatment plant in Lenox Dale, and a town library dome restoration costing more than $1 million.
However, Vallee added, town officials have been “very kind, very genuine very empathetic to our needs. They kept suggesting different places, but sadly, we’ve looked into all those places. It’s not been the lack of trying by any means.”
Asked if she feels the town did everything possible to avoid the outcome, Vallee hesitated.
“I think they could have made this building more of a priority than they did years ago,” she said.
However, she added, “we have to be grateful they allowed us to stay here for $1,600 a month.”
There’s also pressure from the state weighing on Vallee, with a full renewal process, as required every two years, due by June 26 since a two-month extension of the current license was denied.
Parents have been “gung-ho, trying to keep us open, searching and calling places,” she said. “They’re trying everything.”
Kimberly Russell, whose daughter attends the center, said families have nowhere to turn.
“We weren't able to get off the waitlist for over a year," she said. "That’s the reality of infant care in this area. Now, families are calling every center within driving distance and finding waitlists of 30 or more kids. There is genuinely nothing available.”
According to a joint statement from Town Hall and the center, the town has supported the center by "maintaining the property to the best of its ability and keeping rent low for as long as possible. Both parties recognize that the extent and expense of these repairs exceed the financial capacity of the center, which relies solely on tuition to meet operating expenses, and of the town, which must prioritize its capital and infrastructure obligations.”
The town’s Permanent Building Committee will evaluate the future of the building, said Town Manager Jay Green. Demolition or sale of the building are among the options.
Although the town offered the building to the children’s center for $1, the cost of repairs and renovations was beyond the facility’s resources.
“It is unlikely that the town will retain ownership of the building due to the cost and competing needs of other town buildings,” Green said. “We’re hopeful that someone may be interested who can afford to rehabilitate it.”
The center’s license from the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care allows it to serve youngsters from 1 month through age 5, including infant and toddler day care, preschool and kindergarten-readiness programs, as well as summer care when space allows.
“Our goal is to provide a balanced and complete early childhood learning experience in a respectful and safe environment,” according to the facility’s mission statement.
Daily hours extend from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., with a daily $67 cost for infants, $58.50 for toddlers (15 months to two years, nine months) and $50 a day for the preschool program.
Tuition for a preschooler attending five full days a week would average $1,075 per month.
Vallee said the Berkshire Family YMCA in Pittsfield has several open slots, as does Pittsfield Bear Care in Dalton.
“We really are in such a desperate need for child care, and it’s definitely a countywide and statewide problem," she said. "We’ve exhausted all our options to stay open. Realistically, we’re coming to an end.”
Although parents haven’t lost all hope, the children’s center is beginning the challenging legal process of dissolving the nonprofit company.
Through it all, Russell and other families offered high praise for the center.
“The director has curated the most incredible staff imaginable — we have felt so comfortable knowing how well our daughter is being cared for and loved. The staff have become like family to us. It is truly a heartbreaking situation.”
Families in ‘panic’ as Lenox child care center prepares to close
After four decades, the nonprofit child care facility in a deteriorating former elementary school building has run out of options, leaving more than 20 families desperately searching for scarce spots
