Submitted photo
Work is under way for the new, $14 million NAS Patuxent River Child Development Center. The project is expected to be complete in early 2013.
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New Child Development Center is under construction
Working families at NAS Patuxent River rely on the Child Development Center/Annex to provide quality child care. The problem is, more children are on the wait list than in the classrooms.
That will soon change with the new, $14 million CDC which is under construction and slated to open in early 2013.
“We have been waiting for this for a very long time and I’m so excited,” said Phyllis Leighton, Pax River Child/Youth Program Director. “We’re going from being able to serve fewer than 200 children to more than 350, which will allow us to serve more families.”
The new CDC, located next to the NEX store on Cuddihy Road, will also have 150 parking spaces as well as overflow parking at the NEX. The facility, which will be more than 38,000 square feet, will include classrooms, administrative areas, support spaces, restrooms, kitchen, food storage, laundry and reception/control areas.
The exterior playgrounds will have security fencing, shade and storage structures, screened dumpster enclosures, access for emergency vehicles, and more.
The paint and carpeting colors chosen are meant to be calming and pleasing to the eye.
“The Navy is getting away from primary colors to earth tones that are more soothing,” Leighton said.
Given there are more than 200 children waiting for CDC services, time is of the essence. Goel Services Quality Control/Safety Manager, Bob Guy, said the construction schedule is aggressive.
“Three weeks ago there was nothing but footers (portions of the foundation) here,” he said. “Now we have plenty of work going on. We should have brick veneer on by late July and windows in by late August or early September.”
Plenty of work actually has been ongoing at the site for months as ground preparation proved to be more time-consuming than expected.
The Tester will provide updates over the coming months.