Vogelweh CDC renovation enhances facility

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Amanda Dick
  • 86th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany --  Walking into the classroom, eyes immediately swarmed to my direction as tiny voices started asking 20 questions from who I was to why I was there.

As they continued to ask questions, each child pointed out what pictures they were drawing -- some cutting out horses and dogs colored in blue or red to give to me.

This was the scene at the new child development center here as about 100 children were temporarily relocated to the Ramstein CDC, starting Aug. 16, while their facility on Vogelweh is being renovated.

"It's basically a total overhaul of that CDC to include fire and health, and then the beautification of the current facility ... new wall, flooring, bathroom carpeting," said Dorothy Choate, 86th Services Squadron Airman and Family Services Flight chief.

Besides beautifying the facility, Mrs. Choate also said the facility will be brought up to standards from its previous use as an enlisted club.

"[The renovation] is going to bring the facility into current-day code," she said. "In other words for health and safety, that means a sprinkler system, closed-circuit TV systems, bathroom facilities and accessibility needs. Also, it's going to [update] rooms not in use, because they do not meet the standard required to support our needs."

To ease the transition for the children, several staff members moved to the temporary location as well.

"[We] moved the care staff with the children from Vogelweh to Ramstein to ensure they had continuity of care with the caregivers they were familiar with," said Josie Cordova, CDC Family Childcare manager. "We also moved the administrative staff and curriculum specialists from the program, so [the children] have familiar management as well as trainers on site to assist with developmentally appropriate practices."

The upgrade of building 1029 on Vogelweh will provide an additional 24 slots and is part of a phased Emergency Intervention Construction Project.

The project also includes the new Ramstein CDC annex, Building 832, and an addition to the infant/toddler facility at building 800 here, along with some school-aged buildings.

"There's a total of seven Emergency Intervention Projects in the Kaiserslautern Military Community; three of those are CDC projects," Mrs. Choate said. "It's a phased plan that's going to span across several months. So, it's going to be approximately 16 months from today [Sept. 1] when we will see a drastic increase in childcare spaces."

The renovation of the Vogelweh CDC is scheduled to be complete by April 2011 at which point children will be moving back to the facility, except for those who are part of Ramstein families who requested childcare at a Ramstein facility. From there, children from the infant/toddler facility here will move into building 832 as a four-classroom facility is added to Building 800, increasing the facility by 64 slots.

According to Mrs. Choate, once all the projects are complete 16 months from now, the KMC will see an addition of 296 slots available, including school-age care.

"What I want to ensure families understand is we still need to grow to meet the total need," she said. "As the KMC grows, infrastructure has to follow with that. We're working diligently to create childcare spaces in the KMC to meet the growing demand."

Currently, 35 dual-military/single-parent dependents are awaiting childcare in the KMC. Although wait list times vary from category and facility, the average wait time is presently about three months, according to Ms. Cordova.