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Child Care Center Expands
Another Chanute Building put to Use

Date:  July 25, 2005
Contact: Nicole Logsdon, Business Manager, Launch Pad Discovery Center
Phone:  217/239-4202
Email:  Nicole@robesons.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Little Wings Childcare and Learning Center, located at 205 E. Frost Avenue in Rantoul, will be expanding its operations this fall.  In business since 1997, Little Wings provides child care for children from 6 months to 12 years of age.  The Center will be moving its school-age program, ages 5 through 12, into a new facility located at 103 E. Flessner Avenue in Rantoul, which was originally built as the Credit Union for the former Chanute Air Force Base.  The new facility, called the Launch Pad Discovery Center, will provide before and after-school child care during the school year and a full-day summer program during the summer months for as many as 75 children.  The expansion into the new facility on Flessner also will allow Little Wings to enroll more children in the infant and toddler age groups at the facility on Frost Ave.

"We have a situation where the demand for our school-age program has been greater than our supply," said Christy Deer, Launch Pad Director.  "This is an opportunity to fill a need in Rantoul," Deer said.

The new Launch Pad facility will include four large classrooms with different programs and activities in each.  A large fenced area provides a recreational component to the center.  Programs will cover a wide range from art and recreational activities to assistance with school homework.  Children will have the ability to move from room to room based on their interests. "The free-flowing atmosphere allows children to explore their interests and creativity.  They will have the opportunity to get their homework done before their parents get off work, allowing more family time in the evenings.  The school-aged children we have told are excited to have a place of their own," Deer said.

"The former Credit Union is a great building architecturally," said Kim Robeson, Member of Little Wings, LLC which will operate Launch Pad.  "We have always thought it was a shame that the building was not being used.  When we started to develop a waiting list for our school-age program at Little Wings, we decided we would renovate it to expand capacity for that age group," Robeson said.  "We have done our best to preserve the architectural design of the building while meeting the building requirements of the child care industry."

Renovation to the building has been extensive due to the building's split-level design and the requirements of the child care industry.  "A significant investment had to be made in order to convert the building from its former use as a bank to its new use in child care," said Kenneth Roessler, a Member of Little Wings, LLC.  "We will be adding an elevator for handicapped accessibility, a sprinkler system and a number of other improvements.  We think that the business will be a great addition to the area and the amenities in the area will be a great compliment to our business."

Over the past few years, a number of public facilities have been developed along Flessner Avenue in the area surrounding Launch Pad.  The building is situated across the street from the Public Library and the Recreation Department's Arts & Crafts facility.  The new Aquatic Center is also a short distance away.  "The location is great," said Nicole Logsdon, Business Manager of Little Wings and Launch Pad.  "We plan to utilize the facilities around us regularly."

The Launch Pad Discovery Center is the latest endeavor of Robeson, Roessler & Associates which is a partnership between Robeson's Incorporated and Roeco Enterprises.  The Partnership owns properties on the former Chanute Air Force base that they lease or operate businesses within.  In addition to the soon-to-be open Launch Pad Discovery Center, the Partnership owns and operates Little Wings Childcare & Learning Center.  The Partnership also leases the former Chanute Commissary building to Corrflex, who provides packaging for Collins & Aikman, the former Chanute Base Exchange building to Bell Helmets for helmet manufacture, and the former base Laundromat to Lincoln's Challenge.

For more information about Little Wings' Launch Pad Discovery Center, calls are being taken at Little Wings Childcare & Learning Center at 217-893-9022.