NORMAL -- A new Rogy's child care center could fill the empty lot at 1110 S. Main St. by this time next year.

The Normal Planning Commission will hear a request Sept. 10 to rezone a house at 708 Harris St. from residential to business to help make the plan happen.

The rest of the about one-acre site already is zoned business. BroMenn Regional Medical Center owns all of the property. According to the plan, the Harris Street house and one at 1104 S. Main St. would be razed to make way for the center.

Dawn Meyer, who would own the facility, said the day care would give priority to children whose parents work at BroMenn Regional Medical Center, Illinois Wesleyan University and Illinois State University but the center would be open to others as well.

The facility would replace the current BroMenn Child Care by Rogy's center at 900 Franklin Ave., Meyer said.

The current center serves 110 children 6 weeks to 5 years old, and school-aged children in the summer. Meyer said the new center would accommodate 180 children ages 6 weeks to 12 years old year-round. There also would be some bus transportation to schools.

Meyer said the new 13,000 square-foot-center will feature the newest innovations in security and will have its own kitchen. Breakfast, lunch and two snacks will be served. Between 35 and 40 people would be employed, mostly full-time, she said. The current center employees about 19 full- and part-time workers.

The main entrance to the new center would be off Harris Street. A play area is planned on the northeast corner. There would be some on-site parking but there also would be a 26-space parking lot across the street on the southeast corner of Harris and Main streets.

Meyer said she is looking forward to tapping into resources offered by BroMenn, ISU and IWU, including continuing the center's relationship with BroMenn's Adult Day Care and working with ISU and IWU students.

"We're really excited about this ... bringing a new face to the area," said Meyer.