FORT BENNING, Ga. -- Fort Benning introduced community members to the new $7 million School Age Services Center during a grand opening Wednesday, while post leaders reaffirmed their commitment to Soldiers and their families by re-signing the Army Family Covenant.
The child-care facility is among the first Base Realignment and Closure projects to be completed at Fort Benning, officials said. Construction began in April 2008 and ended in May, but the doors opened to about 200 children in kindergarten through fifth grade when school began early last month.
Al Gelineau, director of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation, called the center a "magnificent structure" and major upgrade over the previous facility, which had become dilapidated because of age.
"The engineers took a little extra care and pride in building this," he said prior to the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The new School Age Services Center features a multipurpose activity room, demonstration and teaching kitchen, computer lab with 14 terminals, performing arts room, homework lab, video game room, and an art and science activity room.
Lt. Col. Flip Wilson, the chief of Infantry office director, and his wife, Relisa, were among those who stepped inside to check the place out. They arrived at Fort Benning in mid-July from Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, with their four daughters - two of whom will use the facility.
"I hear people say the kids don't ever stay in one room here," the lieutenant colonel said. "It encourages them to develop, grow and see new things through interaction ... This is one thing that will definitely impact our children."
Relisa Wilson said the Army should use it as a model for future child-care construction projects.
"It's the best facility I've seen in all the installations we've been to, and that includes some Air Force bases," she said. "They set the bar here, for sure ... The creative arts and creative playing they have set up will definitely help our children's confidence."
Sgt. 1st Class Ernesto Prince and Pvt. Natacha Falu, a dual military couple, were on stage for the Army Family Covenant re-signing. Their two children took part in the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Falu, who enlisted in the Army five months ago, was recently assigned to the 206th Military Intelligence Group at Fort Gordon, Ga. For the past three years, the kids attended the former School Age Services Center, she said.
"It's larger than the old facility. There's more space to study and a larger computer lab," Falu said. "We have a lot of great caregivers in there to help them ... It's a safe, secure place."
Ernesto Prince will deploy to Iraq next month with the 1st Battalion, 10th Field Artillery Regiment, leaving his family behind at Fort Gordon, where the children will attend Child, Youth and School Services programs on that installation.
He said it's a "new experience" with his wife now in the military, but he praised the Army's support structure, saying he's confident the family will be in a strong, helpful environment while he's away.
"It's a good thing seeing how they care for families and kids," Prince said.
Maj. Gen. Michael Ferriter, the U.S. Army Infantry Center and Fort Benning commanding general, said the Army Family Covenant is more than a document.
"It's a commitment, and I believe it is important every now and then to come together to reaffirm our convictions that the heart and soul and strength of our Army is our families. And it's important to renew the promise to those families," he said.
"America's strength is its Army. The Army's strength is its Soldiers. And the Soldiers' strength are their families. It's no stretch to say the strength of America depends on the strength, the well-being and resilience of our Army families."
Enhancing quality of life can "mitigate the negative impacts" of Soldier training demands and extended deployments on families, Ferriter said.
"If a Soldier knows his leaders care and his family's needs are being taken care of, he or she will be most effective," he said.
Ferriter said re-signing the covenant is a fresh pledge to continue to improve family health care; provide them with affordable, comfortable, contemporary housing; expand educational and employment opportunities; and keep open the lines of communication to deployed Soldiers, including social media outlets. Fort Benning also will explore more opportunities for children through youth programs, sports and outdoor recreation, he said.
Not far from the new School Age Services Center, renovations are under way on French, Green and Blue fields to create a $1.4 million sports complex that will include 17 fields, a concession facility, walking trail and dining pavilions.
A $5 million child-care center is being built near McGraw Village on Custer Road, while work continues on a $4 million facility close to Indianhead Terrace.
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