Word: casteau
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...NATO on French soil. While the flags of NATO's 15-member nations were lowered and a military band played a Napoleonic march, it bade adieu to its sprawling prefabricated compound at Rocquen-court, the site of ancient Bourbon hunting grounds, and moved to the small town of Casteau in southwest Belgium...
Instead, the Belgians invited the generals to pick out a nice place in the country. So, after surveying a number of desolate sites, SHAPE with a sigh last week began construction of its new headquarters in the hamlet of Casteau, a wide spot in the road 30 miles southwest of Brussels...
...Casteau (pop. 1,800) is so small and undistinguished that it does not even rate a line in Michelin's guidebook. But it has some old red brick barracks on an 800-acre military reservation. By next spring, construction teams intend to throw up a modern headquarters, heliport, and 600 prefabricated houses for SHAPE'S staff of about 2,000 men and their numerous dependents. The cost -$43 million-will be shared by the 14 surviving NATO military members. France avoided a share of the bill by withdrawing from NATO's military committee...
Though SHAPE'S officers may groan at the thought of swapping Paris' glitter for bucolic Belgium, locals around Casteau consider the choice a stroke of luck. Real estate prices have doubled, and rents are sure to follow. Besides, many of the residents share a SHAPE passion: "I'm looking forward to the Americans," says one Casteau golfer. "We need some competition...