Daycare center approved for historic Elsie Dreyer Building in Brookville

By John Estridge

The historic Elsie Dreyer Nursing Home building is safe for now and apparently going to be used as a daycare center instead of a new town hall for Brookville.

As Brookville officials have been silent on which building the town plans on buying to make into a new town hall, the Elsie Dreyer building was listed as one of the possibilities in the rumor mill that sprang up because there are no available facts.

Derik and Kehlie Orschell asked for a conditional use to open a daycare at the facility located at Third and Main streets in Brookville. During the Board of Zoning Appeals at its March 10 meeting, Kehlie made the presentation. It had received a favorable recommendation from the Area Plan Commission earlier in the meeting.

Kehlie said there is the capacity to have up to 100 children in the facility, but at this point, she does not plan to have that many attend. She is licensed with the state and has followed all the state-mandated protocols.

At least three BZA members were concerned about parking along Third Street and the possibility of a parking issue during drop offs and pickups. They mentioned the possibility of traffic backing up on Main Street.

David Mannix and later Ed Derickson, BZA members, asked Kehlie if the drop offs and pickups could be staggered by age group. She explained it is not like a school with fixed start and ending times; thus, drop off and pickup times are built around the parents’ work schedules.

BZA members said the couple should work with Brookville town officials to see about possibilities for better traffic flow and parking in the area. There is an alley behind the building, which can be utilized as a pickup and drop off point. Traffic may be able to flow one way in the alley to make that process smooth, Kehlie said.

Thus, the BZA unanimously approved the conditional use application on the contingency the couple work with the Brookville town officials and come up with a plan for traffic flow in the area.