Though much of the construction of a 15,000-square-foot building has been complete at 4581 Enders Road in Manlius, on Aug. 25 owners of Shining Stars Daycare and community members came together to celebrate the official groundbreaking of the project that will increase the instructional space for the daycare center.
Shining Stars Daycare was started in 1994 in East Syracuse by John and Stella Penizotto, and has expanded to include locations in Liverpool and Manlius. John Penizotto said the East Syracuse and Liverpool locations both have updated facilities larger than the current one at Manlius, and the staff is limited at the Manlius location as to the variety in programming they can offer.
A few years ago, the Penizottos started working to also update the Manlius location, and bought neighboring properties to the current Manlius building to be able to expand in the same area.
The new building is 15,000 square feet, which is much larger than the 6,200-square-foot current building that was purchased in 2001. Updating the facility will allow them to increase the different types of activities they can offer to students, said Penizotto, and the new gym will allow students to be more active. The Manlius location provides daycare services and after-school programming for children ages 6 months to 12 years from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays. The new facility will allow the daycare to take in about 20 more students than the current location.
“The response we’ve gotten from our parents has been excitement,” said Penizotto. “A lot of them didn’t really realize what they were missing out on until they saw our other larger locations in Liverpool and East Syracuse … We hope to be able to provide for the need in the community for quality care for young children.”
The gym will also be available for community organization rental, and was built tall enough to host volleyball games, said Penizotto.
“When we were considering this project, we wanted to build something the whole community can use,” said Penizotto.
Though much of the construction for the exterior of the new building has already been complete, a groundbreaking was held on Aug. 25 and attended by community members, business representative and municipal leaders that have helped get the project to the point of completion.
“We really couldn’t have done it without the help from our partners in the community,” said Penizotto.
Once the new facility opens on Nov. 1 of this year, Penziotto said the older facility next door will be demolished and they will work with the town of Manlius to find a suitable buyer for that property on the corner of Enders Road and Route 92.
To learn more about Shining Stars Daycare, go to shiningstarschildcare.org or call 315-682-3257.
