The USO Center at Cleveland Hopkins airport will close in late September.
Susan Glaser/TNS
CLEVELAND, Ohio – The USO lounge at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport will close next month, as the organization works “to optimize our operations and better meet the needs of the military,” according to a spokeswoman.
The lounge, located on the baggage-claim level of the airport, provides a quiet space for traveling members of the military and their families to relax and wait for flights.
The lounge has existed at the airport since 1968, according to the USO.
The last day the center will welcome guests is Wednesday, Sept. 25, with the center fully closing on Monday, Sept. 30, according to Tess Fegan, a communications specialist for the USO.
Fegan said the decision to close the lounge was difficult.
“The USO recently conducted a thorough evaluation of operations to ensure effective mission delivery,” she wrote in an email. “We found that by reallocating our resources we can better serve Ohio to provide critical USO programming to our core audience of currently serving military and their families.”
She added, “While this is a significant pivot for the USO in the Cleveland area, the USO always demonstrates our ability and willingness to adapt to the ever-changing needs of the military.”
The center is currently open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. It is staffed by volunteers.
A volunteer at the center this week said the lounge sees perhaps 25 guests a day, who range from recruits en route to basic training to family members waiting to welcome home deployed relatives to veterans, who are served as space allows.
The center features comfortable places to read and nap, toys for kids, snacks and beverages.
USO Centers at other Ohio airports, including those at John Glenn Columbus International Airport and Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport near Cincinnati, are not closing, Fegan said.
She said the USO will continue to support service members in Northeast Ohio with mobile units, sporting events and other programming.
The USO recently deployed a new mobile unit to Camp James A. James Joint Military Training Center in Portage and Trumbull counties, Fegan said. She called it a “fully functioning USO Center on wheels with a kitchen, games and activities to support traveling National Guard units.”
In addition, the USO has plans to support Coast Guard District 9, based out of Cleveland, with upcoming programs.
The USO, which stands for United Service Organizations, is a private nonprofit. It was founded in February 1941, shortly before the United States entered World War II, with a goal to lift the morale of the country’s growing Armed Forces.
The USO’s first airport center was in San Francisco in 1966, a response to the many service members in transit during the Vietnam War.
A spokeswoman for Cleveland Hopkins said USO pays $1 in rent annually to lease the 1,217-square-foot lounge. She said the airport had not yet determined what it would do with the space after the USO’s departure.
