“We can’t wait to reopen our doors to our Wright-Patt Airmen and their families,” Franz said. “There’s not a room in this building that’s not looking better and feeling more welcoming.”
The center, including the Wright-Patt Airman’s Attic, will reopen carefully. For the first two weeks, it will be open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday to Friday. Then, starting Nov. 2, the hours will expand to 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday and eventually will include evenings and weekends.
“Slowly but surely, we’ll get this train rolling again,” said Erik Oberg, center manager. “We’ve made some significant changes in order to protect public health and make our operation more efficient.”
One of the most visible changes is the reorganization of all the seating in the center to ensure social distancing.
“Café guests will have plenty of room to spread out,” said Franz. “While the weather is good, we’ll also encourage people to make more use of our beautiful patio.”
Another significant change is to the Airman’s Attic donation drop-off. Rather than carrying donations through the USO centers front doors, donors will now be directed to a dedicated drop-off point at the rear of the building. This will reduce traffic into the building and simplify donation processing for the USO volunteers.
The Airman’s Attic donation drop-off will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
“Like every other space in the building, the Attic is looking better than ever thanks to some very hard work by our volunteer Attic managers and volunteers.”
Besides the Café and Airman’s Attic, other engaging amenities await guests returning to the USO. The center has revamped its public Wi-Fi, added new common access card-enabled computers and updated its video gaming systems.
Oberg expressed his thanks to local partners who have supported the Wright-Patt USO during the center renovation.
“Fairborn’s VFW Post 6861 funded a new sink for our café bar, which is going to be a huge help. Also, American Legion Post 707 in Englewood bought a Nintendo Switch gaming console plus extra controllers and games. Our Airmen gamers are going to be delighted.”
Airmen from across WPAFB also pitched in get the center ready after the renovations were complete, Oberg reported.
“We are so grateful for the assistance we received from volunteer Airmen from the National Air and Space Intelligence Center, the 88th Air Base Wing, and the Airmen dormitories,” he said. “They helped us with a lot of heavy lifting that we could not have handled on our own.”
In fact the Wright-Patt USO is dependent on volunteers to function. As the center emerges from its closure, the staff look forward to seeing many volunteers return to service, some for the first time in many months.
“While we’re eagerly awaiting the return of our service members and their families, we’re looking forward to seeing our volunteers again just as much,” Franz said. “The improved air conditioning, the shiny polished floors, the fresh paint and steam-cleaned carpets … that’s all here for them, too.”
“We’ll start on-boarding new volunteers in November. Come join our team,” said Franz.
The Wright-Patt USO will host a grand reopening celebration Oct. 23 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The center is open to all active-duty, Guard and reserve service members and their dependents. Retired service members are welcome on a space-available basis.
For further information, email Oberg at eoberg@uso.org or call 937-904-0537.
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