WeePlay & Learn will open a new children's center at Ward Warehouse Monday, 10 months after closing its original store at the Koko Marina Center.

Owner Mary Melzack said the new location is on the second floor of Ward Warehouse above the Chowder House restaurant. Melzack said the center will be housed in about 10,000 square feet of space, more than double the size of the previous location.

She said the additional space will allow her to expand the services WeePlay & Learn can offer. For a membership fee, WeePlay & Learn provides programs that emphasize interactive parent-child play intended to contribute to the child's development.

The first play center was opened in July 2004 in Hawai'i Kai, but was shut down last November after a dispute between Melzack and landlord Koko Marina Center. At that time, Melzack was pregnant with her fourth child, but told WeePlay & Learn's nearly 600 members that she would reopen at another location.

"I promised all my members I'd reopen within a year and it's been less than a year," she said.

With a larger space, Melzack said she will add services and programs. Among them are music, dance and art classes, tumble gym classes, a "keiki snack bar," and once-a-month barber services for children getting their first haircut.

Melzack said she will offer yoga, Pilates and aerobic classes for mothers. WeePlay & Learn also will add "keiki camps," where parents who have business to do or errands to run can drop off their children for up to three hours.

She said she has expanded her staff from four employees at Koko Marina to 15 at the Ward site. Melzack said she hopes the more central location will increase membership.

"A lot of people who found Hawai'i Kai or Koko Marina too far to go will now have the opportunity because we're sort of central," she said. "If a mom wants to go shopping at Ala Moana, trust me, they don't want to go with a 2-year-old or a 3-year-old. We're so close, they can drop their children off at any time once they're registered, do their shopping, and come back."

For information call WeePlay & Learn at 396-2100, or visit www.weeplayandlearn.com.