Pavitt Health and Fitness will be opening a childcare center for their gym users in the building next door. Parents will be able to drop off their children for up to 2½ hours so they can exercise freely while their children are being looked after.
To brighten the old building up, Amanda Falls and her daughter Le’neaha DeTienne, who both work the front counter at the gym, transformed the blank walls into the canvas for a mural.
Upon entering the center on July 25, the duo could be found putting the finishing touches on one of the many koi fish swimming along the bottom of the wall. The pond runs the entire length of the lower half of the walls, the occasional water lily floating on the surface or cattail peeking out. A giant yet friendly looking alligator can be seen grinning nearby. In a corner, a sakura tree, which are known for their bright pink cherry blossoms, sprouts from floor to ceiling, its many branches stretching out over a door. On the opposite side, a fairy clad in purple painted by DeTienne sits poised on a branch of a tree Falls created for her to perch on. The idea behind the room was to create a place to stimulate the imagination.
This room will be for crafts, playtime and other activities for toddlers and preschoolers, general manager Joe Parrish said after he entered the building. The age range for the center will be 0-9, because once kids turn 10 years old, they are allowed to work out in the gym if their parents are present to supervise. The area connected to the mural room will be for infants. The large room in the back is being turned into a gymnasium for the elementary school aged children so they can run around the open play area or on the custom playground set.
The pair said they were initially nervous after being asked to paint the center’s mural because they’ve never taken on a project like it before, but they appeared pleased with the results.
The painting has been going swiftly, Falls and DeTienne agreed, smiling at one another as they showed their work. It’s taken them less than two weeks to get as far as they have, DeTienne said; she will also be one of the child care workers once the center opens.
The soft opening is aimed to take place in mid August, while the grand opening should be in early September, Parrish said.
For more information on the new childcare center, contact Parrish at 789-5556.
• Contact Clara Miller at 523-2243 or at clara.miller@juneauempire.com.
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Amanda Falls and her daughter, Le’Neaha DeTienne, have been working together to paint the inside of a new daycare facility at Pavitt Health & Fitness in July.
