Day Care Construction Under Way on Mayhew Way

Construction began this week on a former single-family home at 200 Mayhew Way that is being converted to a day care center for dozens of children.

Walls will be knocked down to create a large room in the back that includes a play area, eating area and classroom area. Moving from a smaller space on Geary Road, the Kid Time center plans to license for 80 children on Mayhew Way, and hopes to start with about 65 children, said Director Leah Rosenthal-Kambic.

"We're hoping for a September opening," she said. "It might be October, depending on how long this takes."

In the backyard will be a play structure, sandbox and a chicken coop for three hens (and a rabbit). The property is about nine-tenths of an acre.

The conversion of the house to a day care center was approved in a 3-2 vote by the Walnut Creek City Council last August. Many neighbors objected to the prospects for traffic, noise and the character of the neighborhood, which is where Walnut Creek, Concord and Pleasant Hill come together.

This week, Rosenthal-Kambic said, "We're doing all we can to be good neighbors." Neighbors have dropped by and she shows them the work under way, Rosenthal-Kambic added.