Old family housing at the Army garrison in Vicenza, Italy, is getting demolished to make way for hundreds of modern family homes. (John Vandiver/Stars and Stripes)
VICENZA, Italy — Swaths of the U.S. Army’s garrison here have been transformed into a sprawling construction site, where post-World War II housing is being demolished to make way for townhouse-style living with an Italian flair.
“This is the largest family housing project in the Army,” Maj. Gen. Todd Wasmund, the senior military leader in the Vicenza community, said in a recent interview.
For years, family housing in Vicenza was a community sore spot, with frequent complaints about small units that had fallen into disrepair.
Last year, the garrison took an extraordinary step when it decided all families would live off-post to allow construction to move more swiftly.
The project has been a long time coming, with some planning going back more than a decade. Now, officials in Vicenza say that some of the first units on Caserma Ederle could be coming as early as the summer of 2025.
An artist rendering shows what one of the new neighborhoods will look like on post in Vicenza, home of the largest family housing project in the Army. (U.S. Army Garrison Italy)
Old family housing at the Army garrison in Vicenza, Italy, is getting demolished to make way for hundreds of modern family homes. (John Vandiver/Stars and Stripes)
The main part of the project, happening in the garrison’s Villaggio residential area, will be finished later. The aim is for some of that housing to be ready by the winter of 2025 and for the whole project to be wrapped up by 2028 or 2029, said Navy Cmdr. Jonathan Horner, who is in charge of the construction effort in Vicenza.
The entire project, involving nearly 500 homes, will cost around $450 million, Horner said.
The end result will be homes “right in line with what you’d expect in the States,” he said.
The old housing was comprised mainly of 900 square-foot homes, whereas new units will be a mix of homes ranging from 1,700 square feet to as large as 2,400 square feet.
“The old homes were too small for modern families,” Wasmund said. “The rooms were too small for students to study in; they were too small for growing families. They were just inadequate.”
The style of the new units is colorful and architecturally akin to what houses look like in the Italian community, Horner said.
For now, the work means families living off-post must endure some inconvenience for the sake of future Army families in Vicenza.
“Italy is not an easy place to get situated now in town,” Horner said. “It’s not just two weeks of checking in process, but we're talking about two months, maybe more.”
That can be tough for young Army families, especially those who’ve never lived overseas before, he said.
The adjustment to life in Vicenza, home the 173rd Airborne Brigade and the Southern European Task, Africa, also can mean time away from the mission. Wasmund said leaders are taking extra steps to manage the situation.
“I don't like not having a residential hub,” said Wasmund, adding the short-term inconvenience will pay off in the long run. “It's a really wise investment in the community, to provide our families first class quality homes.”
