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JBSA News
NEWS | Aug. 30, 2021

JBSA-Fort Sam Houston Child Development Center temporarily relocating operations

By David DeKunder 502nd Air Base Wing Public Affairs

Children enrolled at the Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston Child Development Center, or CDC, are being relocated to other child care facilities on the installation or in the community as the building is scheduled to undergo major repairs starting in September.

“The health, safety and welfare of the children and staff is the number one concern,” said Brian Roush, 502nd Force Support Squadron director.

Properly addressing that concern will require the temporary closure of the facility for 18 to 24 months, starting in early September, once alternate childcare accommodations have been made for the families affected by the closure. 

JBSA’s CDC staff are working with each of the families directly affected by this closure to provide alternate childcare options and specific implementation dates utilizing other Child & Youth Services facilities on JBSA-Fort Sam Houston or JBSA-Randolph or in the community, said Roush.

The 68 staff members who currently work at the JBSA-Fort Sam Houston CDC will continue providing the same high-level child care at the alternate duty locations on JBSA-Fort Sam Houston or other programs across JBSA, said Melissa Wesley, JBSA Child and Youth Services chief.

Furniture and equipment from the main JBSA-Fort Sam Houston CDC are being moved to the temporary locations, which have been reconfigured to accommodate the children.

Roush said parents and guardians of the children being relocated to other child care facilities were notified in July of the upcoming changes and he is grateful for their support, cooperation and understanding. He said the parents, as well as the JBSA community, will be updated periodically on the progress of the CDC repair and replacement project as it progresses.

Lt. Col. Brian Strickland, 502nd Civil Engineer Group deputy commander, said the repairs and replacements being made to the roof and HVAC system at the JBSA-Fort Sam Houston main CDC are long overdue. He said the roof, which leaks during rainstorms, had significant problems during Winter Storm Uri in February.

“It’s time for these two building systems to be replaced,” Strickland said. “These systems were at the end of their usable life and Winter Storm Uri sped up the need to do the demolition and replacement of these systems.”

Strickland said the multimillion-dollar repair and replacement project will be conducted in phases. The first phase will be temporary repairs of the roof to stop the current leaks. After the roof is fixed, the next step in the project is the replacement of the entire roof system. The following phase will replace the fire alarms, sprinklers and the mass notification system. The final phase will replace the HVAC system.

Once the project is finished, Strickland said it will make for a better, more comfortable environment for children and staff members when they are able to return to the main JBSA-Fort Sam Houston CDC building.

“[The repairs] should stop the water infiltration, which will make it much more comfortable inside of there, with more regulated temperature and humidity control,” he said. “Fixing the roof and the HVAC, those two systems combined, are your two primary systems that control temperature, water infiltration and humidity.”

Strickland acknowledges the renovation and repair project will be an inconvenience for children and families who depend on the JBSA-Fort Sam Houston CDC for child care services, but he said the result will be worth it.

“We have a 30-year-old facility and the infrastructure needs to be updated,” Strickland said.

Strickland added that he understands the renovation is a disruption to JBSA families, however, the renovated facility will provide a far better environment for the children of JBSA service members, and more peace of mind for parents and guardians.