CHARLESTON AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. –
COMMENT: I have a question about the thrift shop on base. Seems to me, with all the nice buildings and sidewalks and parking lots that have been rebuilt, how come something is not done for the thrift shop? It is a busy place and a lot of people use it; I have been going there for years.
My question is why do they not give the thrift shop a parking area other than the movie parking lot? It is so hard to drop off things to sell, and some things can't be carried that far. If you pull up to the side door to drop it off, you have to back in or out to drop things off. If you want to just go in and look around or buy something, you have to carry it out or get back in through the side door to pick it up. They used to park on the grass area and now I was told the other day you can't do that any more.
It is a really bad situation and it needs a big change - or get rid of the thrift shop. They say they are always telling them they are going to move the thrift shop. Well, if you all are going to move it, you need to move it or give them a better parking lot. If you do, pull or back in to the side door. You always -- have a big mud hole to drive through.
RESPONSE: We appreciate your efforts and recognize the problems associated with the thrift shop and its current location. Thrift shops, according to Air Force Instruction 32-1022 Planning and Programming Non-appropriated Fund Facility Construction Projects, are in a unique category of activities whose facility improvements can only be funded with private funds. As the base has no source of private funds, needed improvements to the thrift shop facility cannot be accomplished. We realize, however, that the thrift shop provides a valuable service to the base community and have included it as one of the first moves in our base long-range plan.
We recently awarded a project to construct a new Child Development Center. This project is estimated to be complete March 2010. After CDC completion, the thrift shop will be relocated to the current CDC. This new location for the thrift shop will more appropriately place it in our shopping district and should help alleviate many of the problems associated with the current location.