SCHWEINFURT, Germany - Two million dollars.
That's the price tag for an ambitious project - scheduled to start late this month - to upgrade streets, parking areas and landscaping for U.S. Garrison Schweinfurt's Askren Manor housing area.
"We have four roads funded where construction will begin: Pine, Spruce, Birch, and Jackson," said Falk Staeublin, engineering chief for the garrison's directorate of public works.
The upgrades are intended to raise the quality of life of those living in the Schweinfurt community, said Helga Deherrera, acting housing chief. Enclosed, private garbage cans; aesthetically pleasing walkways; better lighting; and landscaping changes are all part of the overarching plan.
According to Manfred Brunner, furnishings branch chief, the upgrades are in line with the Army Family Housing Master Plan, as proposed in 2003.
"The plan is a goal; implementation depends on our budget," Brunner said.
Staeublin noted that while the housing areas are not out of compliance with regulations, the upgrades will improve living conditions as intended by the housing plan and the Army Family Covenant.
The covenant promises improvements to Soldier and family housing as a method of ensuring Soldiers and their families with a "quality of life that is commensurate with their service." By putting millions into family housing areas, the Schweinfurt community is following through on that promise.
"There will be inconveniences, as there always are with construction," said Deherrera, adding that she believes families will find the end result worth the trouble.
Also, future construction is funded - to the tune of another three million dollars - for more areas in Askren Manor, said Staeublin. For now, those upgrades are in the beginning stages of planning.
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