The appearance of CCL’s day center and office building on Haverhill Road in El Dorado changes daily.

Beginning in mid-February, construction crews demolished much of the day center and began the process of rebuilding and enlarging it. An addition is being added to the east side, and foyers are being constructed on the south and west.

In the meantime, day services are being provided four days a week at the Elks Lodge in El Dorado and one day a week at CCL’s Winfield day center. Support staff members have remained in their offices on Haverhill Road, despite excessive noise and dust. That area will be remodeled when the day center is mostly completed, but the changes won’t be as extensive.

“The work is going a lot faster than I anticipated,” said Deena Baker, CCL’s area manager in El Dorado, in mid-March. “When I first heard work on the day center would be completed in about six months, I thought that was a pretty short time to get everything finished. Now I see how far they’ve come – for example, much of the Sheetrocking is completed, and the new offices are framed. It’s amazing. They are already working on the front foyer.”

Both the support staff and direct support staff are excited about having an improved day center, Deena said. “We will have a kitchen area, where before the sink was one place and the stove was in another part of the room. It will be much more convenient.

“Having more bathrooms is a big thing,” she continued. “Before, when we had activities like monthly chapel and birthday luncheons, and we had all the El Dorado individuals and staff there, there were always long lines for the bathrooms.

“The noise and dust have sometimes made it difficult to concentrate and to even hear the phones,” she said. “And it’s virtually impossible to keep the offices and remaining bathroom clean. But even with all the inconveniences, the office staff know in the long run it’s going to be worth it to have a new and improved facility.”

Deena said others in the community have asked her what is going on at the CCL offices. “It’s nice to be able to say we’re expanding and remodeling,” she said.

Several clients have had trouble adjusting to the changes in their routine, but most have taken them in stride, according to day services coordinator Ben Dreher.

“It’s working out pretty well really,” he said. “We’re finding things from week to week that we can do better. We continue to have birthday lunches, chapel and potlucks. We just take down some of the tables to make room for the wheelchairs. The staff has been really good about helping us clean up.”

Traveling to Winfield one day a week hasn’t caused any big problems, he said. “The individuals who knew Dani and Katy enjoy seeing them every week, and they are making some new friends. The day service staff there has been great about fixing lunch and helping us out.”

Though there are inconveniences now, Ben said he is excited about eventually moving into a larger and better-equipped day center.

“When we have our monthly dinners and parties, we will have a lot more room,” he said. “I really look forward to having the kitchen all in one area. We’ll be able to do a better job of serving the individuals with a facility that meets their needs.”