sonya martinez
cns news & features
While the government goes into shut-down mode, eliminating non-essential services like NASA, it is making it easier to purchase a military base. With a site called PARCELS, it has established it's presence as a high-tech real estate agent on the World Wide Web of the Internet.
PARCELS is a realtor's dream.
It is maintained by the Office of Economic Adjustment (OEA) of the DoD, or Department of Defense. The site features a clickable map of the United States with bases due for closure.
Click on a dot in a state, and base photo and data appear on the screen. At least that's the theory. Click on most dots in most states and you get the message that information is not available. In California there 10 clickable dots--4 air bases, 6 navy. But click a dot in the Golden State, and it is a no sale.
Texas is another story, however. Dallas Naval Air Station is definitely for sale. Click the little dot and it tells you, "Over 1,000,000 square feet of hangars, shops, offices . . ."
It notes, cheerfully, that a long-term sale or lease can be made immediately--"because 80% of the site is owned by the City of Dallas."
On the other hand, NASA's Kennedy Space Center World Wide Web server was shut down on Thursday with a less than chipper notice: It announced in a mere half screen that the server was "temporarily off line." It had been replaced, it said, "with a small, battery backed-up computer" bearing the message: "All non-critical services . . ."
(11/16/96)
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