Events center officially opens

GOODFELLOW AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- The recent standing up of the Goodfellow Events Center has opened a whole world of leisure and recreation right here in our own backyard. Air hockey, wi-fi, Xbox 360 and NFL Sunday Ticket are just a few of the many features found at the Events Center. 

The brainchild of Services' Glenn Garrison and brought to reality by the crews of both the
Goodfellow Club and the Community Center, the Events Center is a first for the Air Force and is setting quite a standard for bases that wish to follow in Goodfellow's footsteps. By combining the old community center features with the newer locale of the Goodfellow Club, adding a few new features as well, they have created a place that fills all leisurely wants and desires, while still saving the base money by condensing maintenance and operation to one facility. This was, by all accounts, a much needed move. 

"The Community Center was a maintenance nightmare," said Kelley Kazura, noting that
internal problems constantly plagued the old facility. These consistent maintenance troubles were only exacerbated by the outdated look of the building, which provided little customer attraction. The new Events Center aims to change all of that. "The Events Center is designed to be a one-stop place," said Joe Caruso. The more modern appeal of the building, in conjunction with a breadth of new features, looks to successfully achieve that goal. "Putting these features here makes it easy for everyone by consolidating foot traffic," said Caruso. So what are these new features that everyone keeps talking about? 

As mentioned above, the new Events Center offers a multitude of leisurely features
and activities. These include free use computers, wi-fi access, air hockey tables, regulation size pool tables, new lighting over the dance floor and, most importantly,
more staffing for more programs. The Events Center also offers a variety of food services and Caruso noted that patrons should expect to see those expand sometime in the near future. 

While club membership is not a huge player in the new Events Center, there is still valued club membership and with it comes various perks such as free access to wi-fi, free snacks with NFL Sunday Ticket, and a plethora of others. 

The Events Center has also retained many of the club functions as well, as it can still be
scheduled early for meetings or training, and can also be used for commander's calls, retirement ceremonies and other various military functions. 

With all the hype, what are the actual feelings on the new Events Center? "Everybody loves the layout, the Xbox 360, and the NFL Sunday Ticket which is open to everyone," said Kazura, "all we did was add to an already outstanding facility." The new Events Center isn't just a hit with the troops however, as Caruso noted that "without the tremendous support of wing leadership this would never have happened." 

The only features still remaining in the old Community Center are Godfather's Pizza and ITT, of which ITT should be moving over to the Events Center sometime in early 2007. 

Hours of operation for the Events center are 11 a.m.- 9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 11 a.m.-midnight Fridays, noon-midnight Saturdays, and 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Sundays. To schedule early meetings or other functions, contact the Events Center directly.