CDC expands its walls

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Chad Warren
  • 2nd Bomb Wing Public Affairs
BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. --  Construction is underway on a large expansion of the Child Development Center here.

The new building, which is located adjacent to the current CDC on the corner of Kenney Avenue and Rickenbacker Boulevard, will significantly increase the capacity of the facility.

"The center here has a capacity of 168," said Betsy Welch, Child Development Programs chief. "The new facility will accommodate 142 children in addition to the ones that are already enrolled, almost doubling our capacity."

Plans for the addition have been in the works for a long time according to Welch, who submitted the request for the building when she first arrived at the CDC in 1990. The facility is the longest continuously operating CDC in the Air Force, and with the addition of Air Force Global Strike Command to Barksdale in 2009, the funding was finally approved for the project.

"There was a very large jump in numbers, which is part of how we were able to justify this," Welch said.

When she was informed the AFGSC was to be located here, she made it clear that they could not accommodate all of the extra children without doing something.

The waiting list to get children into the CDC can be lengthy depending on the age group, reaching upwards of five months for the largest group, the one-year-olds.

"When you find out you are pregnant, call mom and dad, then come get on the waiting list for the CDC," said Welch, stressing the importance of early preparation. "That is about the only way you will get in."

The benefits for on-base child care are worth the wait for most military families.

"The Child Development Center is a better option for my husband and I because of our work schedules," said Capt. Vanessa Wilcox, 20th Bomb Squadron. "We also wanted our daughter close by."

Wilcox and her husband are both active duty, and have been on the waiting list since September in anticipation of their first child.

The new facility will not have all of the amenities of the main CDC building, such as a kitchen, but will provide eight extra classrooms for the children. This expanded capacity is a huge step toward relieving the high demand of child care on base.

According to Welch, the addition is projected to be completed at the end of August or early September, weather permitting.

For more information, contact the CDC at 456-4139.