Editor’s note: This announcement was provided by the Pelham Children’s Center. The Pelham Examiner publishes announcements in the form received as a service to the community.

Dear Residents of Pelham:

We are the Pelham Children’s Center (PCC) – a not-for-profit, full-day preschool center operating in the Daronco Town House since 1970. PCC has been dedicated to providing high quality and affordable education to preschool children in Pelham. Some of you may know us because your child was or is currently enrolled in our program. Others may have attended our annual Pumpkinfest. Still more may be familiar with us because their children ring in the holidays welcoming and taking pictures with our director, Pelham’s neighborhood Santa Claus. We come to the Pelham community with another proposed role: the revitalizer of the Community Church of Pelham.

Like PCC, the Community Church has been a pillar in the Pelham neighborhood. It has served not only as a congregation space for the Community Church and other local congregations but also as a space for Pelham community organizations. Many Pelham residents may be more familiar with the Community Church because their child attended Junior Wonders, which has operated in the Church for over two decades. Or because their child’s Boy Scout or Girl Scout troop used the community hall. Or because they or their children learned how to ride a bike in the Church’s parking lot.

As most of you know, pending before the Village is a proposal to rezone the lot occupied by the Community Church. Over a half-century, PCC has been inspired by the strength and togetherness of Pelham’s tight-knit community. And we were inspired again by the responses of Pelhamites to the proposed redevelopment. All neighborhoods of Pelham – from Chester Park to Pelham Manor – banded together in the hopes of finding a better solution. We believe that we have a better solution to explore.

Picture this:

• A revitalized structure without new development but including space for the Community Church’s congregation and neighborhood staple Junior Wonders.
• A new field for Pelham children to play in a neighborhood with a scarcity of green space.
• More high quality, full-day preschool for a neighborhood that is in great need for it.
• Additional after-school programs and activities to provide for Pelham families that need after care for their elementary-school aged children.
• Dedicated community space to serve the Pelham community, including organizations like Pelham recreation, Scouts, and others.

This is a unique opportunity for the Pelham community to unite with the Community Church and create a lasting legacy in this community. Let’s seize it.

We are prepared to initiate discussions with the Community Church on our proposal whenever the Church feels comfortable. We need to perform diligence on the ultimate cost of the project. And there will likely come a time where we will ask the community for support. But we believe that PCC can do this. Pelham can do this.

As PCC continues to support the Pelham community, we hope that you will band together and support our proposed project. Together, Pelhamites can do anything.

Please express your support for consideration of our proposal directly to the Community Church, Mayor, Board of Trustees and Planning Board. There is a Planning Board meeting on December 20, 2022 at 7:30 pm. Attendees may attend in-person at the Village Hall at 195 Sparks Avenue or via Zoom (the Zoom link can be found on the village website at pelhamgov.com under government/planning board). We encourage all Pelhamites to attend.

If you have any questions, please contact PCC via email at [email protected].

United with Pelham,

Pelham Children’s Center