City tackling ‘task of the century’

[unhappycamper]

City tackling ‘task of the century’
By Kevin Dougherty, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Monday, January 21, 2008

HANAU, Germany — With no pointer handy, Martin Bieberle grabs a small metal spoon and begins to move it across a large aerial map of his German city.

The Hanau urban planner skips from one U.S. Army installation to another, discussing merits and possibilities. With the Americans heading out of town lock, stock and barrel, there are all sorts of opportunities to reshape the landscape.

“Lord Mayor (Claus Kaminsky) says it’s the task of the century,” the 43-year-old said through an interpreter. “It’s exciting and emotional.”

Since the early 1990s, when the U.S. military in Europe began to return scores of bases following the end of the Cold War, officials like Bieberle have puzzled over what to do with the newly available land. In some instances, the property went unused for years. In other cases, it didn’t.

Hanau, with a population of about 90,000, already has a pretty good idea of how it plans to use the dozen or so bases within its domain, according to Bieberle.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=51798