Responding to concerns from families who discovered through a newspaper article that their day care's lease was not being renewed, the leadership of the American Legion Post in Montgomery has provided insight into their decision-making process.

American Legion Post 521 Commander Mark Merring says the newspaper advertisement that announced the closure of Heather's Child's Place was a last-resort measure. The Legion post had initiated communication with the day care owners as early as November and had made repeated attempts to discuss the lease with them but received no response, he says.

Merring says they felt compelled to inform families about the nonrenewal of the day care's lease due to the impending renovations for a future veterans' community center on the premises. "I would have thought that notification would have had to come from other sources; however, we were down to four months when we put the article in the paper, and nothing had been said to any of them that we know of ... That's why we went that route."

Heather's Child's Place is set to close tomorrow, while plans for the new American Legion facility are underway with a potential opening date in January.