BRUSSELS - After the video gaming center and rock-climbing wall, Brussels American School student Trinity Hill hadn't fully thought out the rest of the amenities planned for her school's new youth center.
What she may have missed about the spacious new homework center and computer lab, joked USAG Brussels Commander Lt. Col. Darin Conkright, is all the extra homework her teachers could give her.
Officials from Brussels garrison and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Europe District marked the beginning of construction on a new Child, Youth and School Services Youth Center located on campus Jan. 20.
"I'm excited just having a bigger place to go and being close to the school," the 11-year-old Hill said, decked out in a hard hat and ceremonial shovel. "We're going to have an actual place to do homework. I used to have to go to the library because of all the noise at the old place."
Construction on the $6.4 million facility is scheduled to be complete by early 2011 and will accommodate roughly 150 students.
"This is an excellent example of the Army Family Covenant in action at the Brussels garrison," said USAG Brussels Command Sgt. Maj. Anthony Cordova. "When this center is finished, there's going to be so much more for the children right here at the school, without having to travel back to garrison first."
The facility will feature a multi-purpose gymnasium with a full volleyball and basketball court, and four additional half-courts. It will also have a professional commercial-sized kitchen, in addition to a separate residential-sized kitchen allowing for cooking demonstrations. Additional features include an arts and crafts classroom and 15 computers for the homework lab.
"This project will provide a modern and efficient facility to support the needs of middle school-age children and teens in support of our great team members stationed here," said Dietmar Wittmann, the district project manager. "We are working diligently with our partners to ensure a quality facility."
The youth center will come equipped with a video monitoring system, as well as anti-terrorism and force protection measures, according to construction officials.
(Rachel Goodspeed, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Europe District, contributed to this report.)
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