(Image: Save Mother’s Place)

With reporting by Hannah Saunders

Long-time Capitol Hill daycare center Mother’s Place faced closure near the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic but was able to get back on its feet. Flash forward two years later, when Mother’s Place announced that it would officially be closing on July 29, after 41 years of serving the Capitol Hill community — this time, for good.

Its closure will mark the end of four years of hopes to move the center as property owner Seattle Academy’s plans to expand onto the parcel first took shape accelerate.

It will also mark yet another challenge for Capitol Hill and Central Seattle families as childcare options shift in the city’s core.

Amy Magnano is a parent of two children who have attended Mother’s Place over the past five-and-a-half years and says there had been hope Haggard Childcare Resources would find a new home nearby for the facility after taking it over from Seattle Academy in 2020.

Parents got together and created a steering committee but Haggard faced too many restrictions and a lack of properties appropriate for a viable new home for the center. Magnano said even switching to an outdoor model using public parks was considered.

Magnano says the parents of Mother’s Place feel let down by the city and state leaders they also reached out to.

“[U]ltimately there was no one willing to make this a project they were willing to pursue,” Magnano said. “It’s a really sad deal.” Continue reading →