Troy

St. Peter's Health Partners says it will keep a Troy daycare center open past its original closure date after hearing from parents who worried they wouldn't have enough time to find alternate care.

The nonprofit health system had originally planned to close the Samaritan Rensselaer Children's Center on Sept. 15, but didn't communicate that information to parents until June. Upon hearing the news, parents began circulating a petition urging St. Peter's to reconsider.

The center serves about 130 families in and around Troy. Three months, parents argued, would not be enough time to find new child care.

"We know how critically important and personal SRCC day care services are for its parents and families, and we are aware of, and appreciate, the practical realities and long lead time needed to find high-quality child care," hospital administrators wrote in a June 10 letter informing parents of its decision to postpone the closure.

In that letter, St. Peter's Health Partners pledged to keep the daycare open until Sept. 15, 2020 or until a new operator is found to take it over — whichever comes first.

The daycare occupies a 92-year-old building at 2213 Burdett Ave. that needs extensive renovations, administrators said.

The cost to renovate (about $3 million) was a factor in the decision to close. And while St. Peter's says it has about 170 locations around the region, the cost to retrofit any of those spaces would have been "prohibitively expensive," it said.

The plan now is to find another operator. In the meantime, St. Peter's says it may need to temporarily relocate the daycare to another facility in Troy.

"We expect to have that answer shortly," administrators said.