European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 15, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday april 15, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 9 resort hotels getting face lift by Charlie Bowden Munich Bureau Garmisch Germany a new Era has begun at arc. When work is completed old timers will barely recognize the army s Chain of aging bavarian resort hotels. Some facilities will go the Way of the old Columbia hotel in Munich and will be returned to the German or local City government. Six other armed forces recreation Center properties also have been closed Haus Loi Sach Haus Stadt Mitte Haus Chancellor Haus Watz Mann Villa Schoen and Rasdorf Lodge. Some of those left will receive a massive face lift and will be expanded and modernized a new hotel will be built and then More properties will be shut Down. The changes Are the direct result of an army commissioned study by the accounting firm of Pannell Kerr and Forster. That study which ran to seven volumes recommended changes that would shake the 40-year-old foundation of arc and dramatically alter its physical appearance its work Force and its methods of doing business. With study in hand Usa eur formed the usar eur implementation team which in turn broke Down the recommendations into an orderly fashion according to functional area. The team found 602 specific recommendations in nine functional areas some major and expensive others minor and requiring Only procedural changes. To Date 383 of those recommendations have been adopted at arc while 29 were rejected As being impractical illegal or impossible. The remainder Are listed As Ong  however army and Usa eur guidance is that All of the recommendations will be adopted whenever feasible. The Gist of the study has been summarized in five conclusions. One perhaps the most significant kept arc in business saying it is an essential morale support activity and should be  the others arc does not meet acceptable standards for com Mercial hotels and beverage operations. Operating Cost is excessive. Organizational Structure is not conducive to efficient operation of hotel or recreation facilities. Recreation programs Are Well conceived professionally run and Appeal to a Broad Cross Section of users. Many guests will never notice changes such As the Transfer of the civilian personnel office from the Community to arc or switching the accounting system from the military s method to one commonly used in the hotel Industry or reducing warehouse inventories. Other changes Are More noticeable. New towels and sheets Courtesy classes for employees credit card acceptance Transfer of the sports stores to cafes Europe Central reservations and direct Check in at the hotel Are but a few examples. Even More obvious Are Price hikes in room rates. The rates increased about 20 percent across the Board effective april 1, As a direct result of the study. Long Range changes Are under Way. While the organization once had an army colonel for a commander arc now is run by a civilian executive director who is a career hotel manager. A 650-room hotel and recreation Complex is planned As a replace ment for the Sheridan at Garmisch and the general Walker and the Berchtesgaden roof in Berchtesgaden will be expanded and upgraded. The Lake hotel and Park hotel at Chi Emsee Are scheduled for renovation starting As Early As next year. The prep ans Are ready said Anton Gotsche the Man hired to steer arc on its new course. It s a question of financing at this Point and that s being discussed at higher Levels in Heidelberg and washing ton. Once they have decided on financing Well Start with  the construction project at Sheridan Cavern in Gar Misch while still a concept is getting a High priority and could be started within a year of final approval. Its 650 rooms eventually will replace the other hotels in Garmisch consolidating everything into one facility one location said it. Col. Dal Bailey chief of the construction and facilities Branch in the office of the Deputy chief of staff for personnel at Usa eur head quarters in Heidelberg. That also was part of the pkg study Bailey said. The widely dispersed old facilities that we currently Are using would be turned  most of arc s hotels were never designed to be used As hotels. One was a Hospital and another an offi cers club for example. These hotels Are so outdated and old that they Are not Only inefficient in operation but they also arc re Quiring an enormous amount of maintenance to keep them going Bailey said. The pkg accountants estimated it would take about $60 million to repair the arc s 12 hotels and bring them up to . Standards. A new modern hotel could be built for that Price and it would include Money Sav ing features Bailey said. The Sheridan Plaza will be torn Down in november to make room for the new recreation and conference com plex. But the Sheridan with nearly 200 rooms is not a popular hotel primarily because Only about 30 of those rooms have Baths the single biggest complaint from arc guests. The concept for the new arc includes a Bath for every room. Tomorrow the Man selected to cure arc shoes. Bavarian facilities report Sharp drop in income by Charlie Bowden Munich Bureau Garmisch Germany occupancy level and Gross income dipped sharply last year at the army s Chain of bavarian re sort hotels in the midst of a major reorganization. The drop in occupancy at the armed forces recreation Center hotels is due in part to the Strong Dollar through the first half of last year which gave americans More spending Power and the Opportunity to shop around said Usa eur and arc officials. The occupancy rate dropped from a High in fiscal 1984 of 82.4 percent to 71.8 percent last year. Another Factor is a change in the method used in figuring occupancy said Anton Gotsche executive director for arc. Gotsche hired last year on the basis of the results of a study of arc operations has switched from a bed night basis to room night in calculating occupancy at arc hotels. It is the Standard in the United states Gotsche said. You Don t talk about Beds you talk about  the Overall decline in Revenue can be attributed to the strength of the Dollar Gotsche said. I think that was one of the main Rea sons Why everything dropped from occupancy to food sales to beverage sales he said. Obviously when the people Aren t in the hotels we Don t sell As  Revenue dropped by $3 million from fiscal 1984 s Gross income of $14.2 Mil lion. Part of the decrease is a result of the Sale and Transfer of the arc sport shops to the control of cafes Europe and the dropping of the adventure training pro Gram. But the bulk of the decline is because of fewer customers something that is reflected through a drop in every reporting category of arc s Gross income statement. Income from accommodations dropped to $4.5 million just below the $4.6 million reported in fiscal 1982 and nearly $1 million below last year. Food sales the second biggest category continued a slide from 1982 s $3.1 million to $2.4 million last year a figure that is about $400,000 below food sales in 1984. There s a marked tendency for the potential customer to Migrate into the econ omy when the Exchange rate is higher when your purchasing Power is better on the Economy said it. Col. Dal Bailey chief of the construction and facilities Branch of the Usa eur Deputy chief of staff. Our prices even though Low Are com parable to prices on the Economy at a 3.5 Mark Exchange rate whereas they re More attractive right now. It s More advantageous right now for them the customers to stick with us and 1986 will reflect that we  although the Dollar s decline will serve As one incentive for customers to choose arc Over civilian hotels Gotsche said the recently formed marketing depart ment is planning a Campaign to attract soldiers and their families to arc particularly in the off season. The idea is to flatten the dips Between the ski season and summer the two highs for Mountain resort hotels. The group travel plan is one example. With it arc pays for bus transportation to and from arc for groups of at least 25. The marketing people also Are coming up with bargain plans that will give them something they can push. The current advertising push to have a Spring fling at arc is an example. The same concept is True for conferences which Gotsche said arc has been losing to More modern hotels with built in conference facilities and where every room has a Bath. We Don t have that and therefore we re at a Handicap Gotsche said. Arc also must arrange for buses to transport conference attendees from one location to another for meetings. It s very costly to us and not very pleasant for the guests he said. One Aid in drawing conferences to arc is a recent change in policy at Usa eur Bailey said. Previously arc had to compete for conferences and the conference sponsor was required by procurement regulations to take the lowest bidder. Often that turned out to be a German competitor because of the High Dollar conversion rate and the transportation Factor. That has changed within the past two months Bailey said. It no longer has to be the lowest bid Der and because of Security considerations and Dollar flow a conference Spon Sor can elect to come to arc and some already have done  cd 30 Wing inspections will take at least a month by Clint Swift Washington Bureau Washington it will be at least a month before the air Force has completed checks for Wing cracks on nearly 300 c-l30 Hercules transport planes that were grounded last week a spokesman said. The inspections will affect missions of Active duty air National guard and air Force Reserve units at 39 locations around the Globe said maj. Mike Perini at the Pentagon. Most affected will be the military Airlift come which has 147 of the older Model planes Perini said. Other units that use the planes in significant numbers include the air Force systems come the tactical air come and the air Force logistics come. Perini said exactly How units would be affected would depend on what proportion of their planes were the models involved. Training will continue at some level he said. The Workhorse aircraft Are used mainly for cargo and personnel Airlift missions Perini said. Less than one third of the 36 c-l30s in Europe Are grounded. The air Force grounded the planes after a search and Rescue Hc-130 crashed during a Low level training Mission april 2 near Magdalena . All 11 men aboard were killed. An investigation is under Way. The grounding affects 50 of the a models which came into the air Force inventory in 1959, and 248 of the a planes which the air Force began receiving in 1967,Perini said. The plane that crashed was based on the a Model. Another 437 c-l30s in the air Force inventory Are not affected by the grounding order. Inspectors will examine the outer Wing Box the main Structure of the outer Wing Between the engines looking for corrosion and fatigue Perini said. Planes will be returned to service one at a time As they pass inspection he said. Nearly 200 of the planes have been fitted with new wings in a program begun three years ago to extend their useful life. The c-l30 is manufactured by Lockheed corp