A new child care center will be opening in Newfane in the building that formerly housed Sweet Angels Daycare.
Lockport-based non-profit Atlas Explorers will be establishing the new center at 6115 First Street following the closure of Sweet Angels’ Newfane location in December after three of its former employees faced charges of child endangerment.
Atlas Explorers CEO Monica Elniskey said that while their child care services will be housed in the same building, Atlas Explorers has no affiliation with Sweet Angels.
“We’re brand new and coming in with a new mission to serve the community,” Elniskey said. “We want the community to know they are in safe hands.”
The group plans to provide daycare services to children ranging from six weeks to four years old.
While they had not specifically been seeking to expand their services to Newfane, Elniskey said the ownership of Sweet Angels had reached out to her and asked whether she was interested in buying or leasing the building.
Atlas Explorers will enter into a lease-to-own deal with Sweet Angels.
After agreements are finalized, they plan to start renovations at the building around March 1. An April grand opening is anticipated.
With the closure of Sweet Angels, Elniskey said she sees an increased need for childcare in the area.
“A lot of (the children and their families) have been misplaced, because they had to leave,” she said.
Atlas Explorers, which was founded in January 2023, is in the midst of constructing a 16,000-square-foot child learning center on South Transit Street.