By Lindsay Tice,Staff Writer

AUBURN – Despite an exhaustive two-week search for space, Smart Start Child Care staff and parents haven’t found a way to stay together.

When the day care center closes tonight, caregivers and children will say good-bye for the last time.

“The biggest loss here is the connection with the staff,” said Heidi Chirayath, whose 4-year-old daughter has gone to Smart Start for three years. “She’s literally grown up in that program.”

Smart Start opened in 1989 in a Mount Auburn Avenue building leased from the Auburn School Department. Jaime Bolduc, who also owns Lever’s Day Care Centers, bought Smart Start in 2003. The child care center serves nearly 70 children and is one of the few Lewiston-Auburn facilities that accepts infants and toddlers.

On Dec. 2, parents suddenly learned that Smart Start would close in two weeks. They were told that the owner had a disagreement with the school department about the condition of the building and could not keep the center open in the face of maintenance and other costs.

The news sent dozens of families into a frantic search for child care. They found few local centers accepted infants and toddlers. Those that did had waiting lists.

In an effort to help frustrated families and to keep kids and caregivers together, Smart Start staff and parents searched for a place to set up their own child care center. But no space met the state’s requirements for day-care.

“People in the community were very generous, but it didn’t work out.” Chirayath said. “That made it all the more frustrating when it fell through.”

Late this week, parents and staff members gave up. Some families found temporary care for their children. Others were still looking.

Many remained frustrated that Bolduc, the owner, hadn’t given more notice.

“We could have come up with a better solution if we’d had a month’s notice instead of two weeks,” said Chris Brann, whose wife, Sarah, works at the center and whose infant son attends.

Bolduc declined to comment on Dec. 2 when she announced Smart Start’s closure. She couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday.

The Branns had briefly hoped to open their own small day care to help out some families with infants and toddlers, but they also had problems finding space.

For now, Sarah Brann will stay home with her son. Chirayath, an assistant professor at Bates, is taking time off of work to stay home with her daughter.

Roland Davis, a dean at Bates, still must find care for his 3-year-old daughter and infant son. He and other parents may hire Smart Start staff members to watch the children until they can find more permanent care.

It’s not the ideal solution, Davis said. But he and others believe Smart Start staff members are special enough to make any situation work.

“It’s not the space, it’s the people who make it magical,” Chirayath said.