New details: $53M secured in two years for two Wright-Patterson child care centers

A child and her mother catch bubbles as they depart the Wright Care Child Development Center on April 29. U.S. AIR FORCE PHOTO/JAIMA FOGG

Credit: (U.S. Air Force photo by Jaima F

Credit: (U.S. Air Force photo by Jaima F

A child and her mother catch bubbles as they depart the Wright Care Child Development Center on April 29. U.S. AIR FORCE PHOTO/JAIMA FOGG

In the past two years, $53 million has been secured for a pair of planned child care centers at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, U.S. Rep. Mike Turner’s office said Friday.

Recently, $29 million has been secured in the Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act for construction of a center for school-age children on Wright-Patterson.

That amount is in addition to the $24 million for a new child development center on the base that was approved in last fiscal year’s Defense Authorization Act — and by Congress in full.

Plans for the newest center call for it to cover 41,000 square feet, housing about 300 children, according to a release from Turner’s office. It will include “force protection features,” sheltered outdoor play areas, pick-up and drop-off sites and other features.

The center approved in last year’s defense budget will serve 100 children, relocating them from an aging Riverside facility off Wright-Patterson.

Wright-Patterson-based missions are also in line for millions in new funding in the last two defense budgets, according to the congressman’s office. Set aside for a 711th Human Performance Wing lab was $40 million in last fiscal year’s budget. A “bionatronics research lab” at the base is also slated for nearly $34 million, also won in last year’s budget. And an Army Reserve Training Center near the base is supposed to get $19 million.

This week the House Armed Services Committee approved H.R. 7900, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023. The bill was approved by a vote of 57 to 1.

A House-wide vote and reconciliation with Senate legislation are the next steps in what could be a lengthy process.

A construction timeline on either planned base child care center was not available Friday.

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