TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - The Centre of Tallahassee will be home to a state agency next year, but the mall is pushing some current tenants out in the next few months.
When's the last time you felt like a kid? Children at The Sharing Tree say it's a place to have a good time.
"It's fun, and it's creative," said 6-year-old Nyla Farrah.
The Sharing Tree has been at the Centre of Tallahassee since October, but the nonprofit has to move out soon.
The mall's developers called last week to break the news.
"It's a little devastating, only because we were really onto something, and I've seen so many children smile in there," said Carly Sinnadurai, Executive Director of The Sharing Tree.
The Florida Department of Children and Families is finalizing a contract with the Centre of Tallahassee to move about 1,300 staff members there starting December 2019. That's forcing existing tenants to move.
This will be The Sharing Tree's sixth move in just nine years. That includes going from here to the old Sam Goody store and back here. Volunteers say it's not a matter of "if" they find a new place, but "when."
"As a kid, you know, you can just open up your imagination and make anything be what you want it to be and that's why it's so fun and so important to allow that creativity and have a space like this," said Scarlett Lang, volunteer with The Sharing Tree.
The Sharing Tree started as a place to give teachers free school supplies. Now, it's grown to include child care, with up to 50 kids running around every day.
"We all hear the saying, 'Let kids be kids,' but it's really like giving them the ability and the space to open their imagination," said Lang.
Where that space will be in a few months is up in the air, but the hope is to find a forever home soon.
We've reached out to Blackwater Resources, the mall's developers, to learn more about the newest plans for the Centre of Tallahassee.
We're still waiting for a response.
