Construction continues on the Food, Beverage and Entertainment Center, one of two Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation Directorate projects on the northeast end of Redstone expected to be finished early this year.
The nearly 11,000-square-foot FBEC building to the north of the Commissary will house Challenger Bingo – now located in building 1500 on Weeden Mountain Drive – a snack bar and a full kitchen. There is seating for 328 patrons at four-person tables that are arranged banquet-style in the bingo hall.
Gary Haught, chief of MWR’s Business Operations Division, said the tentative date for testing and commissioning of the building is mid- to late-January and “along that same time, we’ll get the keys for the building.”
The goal is to install furniture for Challenger Bingo in late January, Haught said, and for Video King to install bingo equipment in mid-February. Following that, the plan is to test the new systems and train the staff.
“In the interim, we’re working on the menu we’ll have in the snack bar,” Haught said. Challenger Bingo patrons received surveys late last year so they could give their input on different food and drink options.
“Our hope is (Redstone) housing and the campground (patrons) will take advantage of to-go orders,” he said.
At the project’s groundbreaking ceremony in 2024, former Garrison Commander Col. Brian Cozine said that the center is MWR’s first major nonappropriated fund construction project on Redstone since Redstone Lanes in 2005.
The Directorate of Public Works was completing work on a dog park off Vincent Drive late last year, and Jacob Miller, chief of MWR’s community recreation division, said the plan is to open in early 2026.
The dog park will have two open fields, one for large dogs and one for small dogs, according to Miller. There will be waste disposal stations and covered picnic tables and running water will be available.
A sign with rules and restrictions will be posted.
The dog park is free to use for authorized MWR patrons, he said, and will open from sunrise to sunset. Dogs must be current on their vaccinations.
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