FORT MCCOY, Wis. -- Construction of a new School Age/Youth Center at Fort McCoy is set to proceed, weather permitting, at the end of April or early May, according to Martin Trainor, Fort McCoy project contract officer representative.
Personnel involved in the project from the installation, the Department of the Army-level Morale, Welfare and Recreation program (via telephone) and the contracted firm, the Atlantic Marine Corporation (AMC) Inc., held a teleconference April 16 to determine the final details. The facility will be built north of the Child Development Center (CDC) building, which opened in 2009.
Representatives at the meeting agreed to issue a limited notice to proceed. The $7.7 million, 18,000-square-foot School Age/Youth Center will be built in the same modular format by which the CDC was constructed. A final notice to proceed will be issued following a site inspection.
The modules are built in an Indiana factory with many of the electrical and plumbing outlets, etc., built in. Mark Peters, AMC project manager, said AMC has built seven similar facilities at Army locations.
Peters said AMC can have the modular pieces of the facility delivered and ready for assembly in two to six weeks. The modular pieces will be placed with a crane. The roof will be attached as soon as possible to reduce the chance of damage to the facility interior. The time line is designed to allow AMC to complete the construction at Fort McCoy by May 14, 2014.
Jan Fink, Child, Youth and School Services coordinator, said the new facility will include many customized rooms to support the needs of youth in grades kindergarten through 12.
Activity rooms, a demonstration kitchen, a teen room, a School Age playground, a computer technology lab, a homework center, an arts-and-crafts room, a gymnasium and administrative space are examples.
Davy Engineering of La Crosse, Wis., has been hired to conduct an on-site review of the facility as work is being completed.
Cori Yahnke, Fort McCoy Youth Center director, said she is looking forward to the construction of the new facility.
"The staff and youth are very excited about the new facility," Yahnke said. "We're happy to be moving back near the CDC, as well, because our programs do a lot of activities together."
The School Age/Youth Center program offers Summer Camp, non-school day and after-school activities for authorized youth.
Daryl Budda, director of Fort McCoy Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation, said the School Age/Youth Center construction will help support the Army's commitment to take care of Army Families through the Army Family Covenant and Army Community Covenant.
For more information about School Age/Youth Center programs in the Fort McCoy community, call 608-388-4373 or 608-388-8956.
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