Maple Leaf Childcare Center celebrated the grand opening of its New York state licensed 2737 Route 9, Malta location Saturday.

This is the fifth center for owners John and Linda Moran, who also run childcare centers in Guilderland, Malta’s Parade Ground Village, Glenville and Schenectady. This latest center cost $3.5 million and was planned to take in the overflow from the Parade Ground Village site, giving children a unique place to learn and explore.

The Route 9 center, which will hold 212 children, was constructed on the former three-acre site of Dean’s Antiques. At 16,000 square feet, the building will be more than double the size of the first Malta center, and will offer many new spaces for teachers and students. Among these are a library, an indoor gym, a resource room, a covered pavilion and even a mother’s nursing room.

--Jennie