Parents commuting from Lawrence to the Kansas City metro area for work soon will have a new child care option.

The former Bishop Seabury Academy campus east of Lawrence is slated for use as a day care center big enough for 100 children ranging in age from infants to 6 years old.

Victor “Peter” Shenouda has a contract to buy the 5-acre campus from Michael and Connie Cook. The contract is contingent on Shenouda securing a conditional-use permit for the center, and Douglas County commissioners approved the permit Monday morning.

Shenouda intends to lease the site to a franchise day care operator.

“It’s a great location,” said C.L. Maurer, who works for Landplan Engineering and has been working on site plans for Shenouda. “It’s halfway between Lawrence and Eudora, so you can get the commuters going to Kansas City.”

The campus is at 1411 E. 1850 Road, less than a mile north of Kansas Highway 10 and a mile east of East Hills Business Park.

Bishop Seabury occupied the site from 1997 until this summer, when it relocated to the former Alvamar Racquet Club off Clinton Parkway in southwest Lawrence.

Kaw Valley School opened in 1957 at the site and later joined the Lawrence school district. The district closed the elementary school in 1991.

In addition to the main school building — which features a library media room, multipurpose room/gym and a kitchen — the campus includes a baseball field, paved playground and about 50 parking spaces.

Under terms of the permit, a day care operator could be open anytime between 5 a.m. and 7 p.m. daily. Maurer said the center probably would be open from 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Bob Johnson, commission chairman, said such a schedule would make sense, considering that parents needing to be in Kansas City for an 8 a.m. meeting would need time to drop off their children before heading down K-10.

“You’ve got to be open by 6:30,” Johnson said.

Maurer said he was not sure how soon a center would be open for business.