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Day care center, preschool planned in Tonganoxie

By Caroline Trowbridge - | Aug 22, 2001

A former Tonganoxie restaurant may soon be the home to a day care center and preschool.

Jody and Jeff Hupe, Tonganoxie residents since October, hope to open a child care center in the former Bitler’s barbecue restaurant at Third Street and U.S. Highway 24-40.

The building is owned by George Anton.

Plans call for the center to serve 60 children, including infants, in seven classrooms. A play area will be constructed west of the building.

At 7 p.m. Sept. 5, the Tonganoxie Planning Commission will consider whether the city should issue a special use permit for the center. The meeting will be held at Council Chambers, 321 S. Delaware.

Jody Hupe said she hopes the center can open in mid-October. Although some parents have said they’re interested in enrolling their children, applications are not yet being accepted.

“We’re kind of at a standstill and doing what we can, and are waiting for the city’s approval,” Hupe said.

Hupe has been a stay-at-home mother and cared for children in her home.

Her husband teaches sixth-graders at Glenwood Ridge Elementary School in Basehor. The couple, whose five children range in age from 2 to 12, moved to Tonganoxie in October from Wamego.

“I’ve been doing child care for 11 years, off and on, but I’ve done it in my home,” Jody Hupe said.

She said tentative hours for the center will be 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.

The center will provide before- and after-school care for elementary school children and will provide transportation to and from school.

And at least once a month, Hupe plans to offer a three-hour parent outing night.

She and her husband are in the process of obtaining a state license for the center, which she said will serve 60 children. She hopes ultimately to serve 100 children.

“We want to start out small and get to know the kids,” she said.