Amherst School Board tours HealthPlex as potential preschool home

AMHERST — The Lorain County Metro Parks' HealthPlex could soon be home to Amherst's littlest Comets. The Amherst School Board toured the HealthPlex, 47160 Hollstein Drive, Tuesday evening during a special meeting, looking at the second-floor space to potentially house its preschool program. The roughly 10,000-square-foot space was left vacant when Mercy Health moved out at the end of January. The hospital system chose not to renew its lease after a decade in space, instead moving its occupational and physical therapy to its Cooper Foster Park Road facility. Superintendent Mike Molnar said the district's preschool enrollment has been growing the past couple of years, sparking a search for a new home. Currently, Amherst's four preschool classrooms are at Powers Elementary School. The program has about 109 kids, and this year had to expand to a fourth classroom, Assistant Superintendent Sarah Walker and Special Education and Preschool Coordinator Corrie Roark said. Walker said the former Mercy Health space could comfortably house the district's current preschool program, with room to grow. But it may require staff to think outside the box, Molnar said. The space on the HealthPlex's second floor was once used for doctors' offices and occupational therapy — leaving behind a large open footprint with oddly shaped offices scattered throughout the space. Those larger rooms could be split up into preschool rooms, and the smaller offices used for storage, breakout spaces or other learning centers, Walker said. She said the existing entrance off the elevators and stairwell would remain the same, and staff would accompany students from parent or bus drop-off outside up onto the second floor either via the stairs or elevator. The office area would be open, but access to the preschool classrooms would be locked from the public, she said. Tuesday was a preliminary look at the space, allowing the board and some preschool staff to visualize what the space could be, Molnar said. The district is able to continue operations in Powers Elementary next year, he said, but wants to be proactive to fill its community's growing need. Walker said they've seen an increase of about 20 to 30 kids in preschool each school year — necessitating the addition of a fourth classroom for the 2022-23 session. Lorain County Metro Parks Executive Director Jim Ziemnik said the parks system and Amherst Schools had previously looked at partnering on the HealthPlex in 2010-11 to house the district's athletics facilities. But after a levy failed, the Metro Parks entered into an agreement with Mercy Health. He said the internal walls of the space are easily changed, and the Metro Parks had already planned to update some of its playground equipment outside. The area has an outdoor, adaptive playground that was originally used for Murray Ridge students, as well as a splash pad. Costs for the district to move into the HealthPlex space were not immediately available — with Ziemnik and Molnar noting the partnership must make sense for both entities if they are to move forward. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.