Anchors aweigh

Coast guard site getting off the ground

Mike Ouellette says the future home of the new Canadian Coast Guard Centre in Charlottetown is prime.

“It’s a great location,’’ says Ouellette, regional director for integrated technical services with Coast Guard Atlantic.

“You just have to look at how close it is to all the major arteries. It’s the perfect spot for us to get buoys in and out of town or get our technicians quickly on the road, or do a quick ... environmental response for a spill.’’

Ouellette was on hand Tuesday as Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Gail Shea officially marked the beginning of construction.

The 1,781-square-metre centre is expected to be complete by the spring of 2016 on John Yeo Drive next to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans’ area office. The centre, which will house 24 Coast Guard employees, will provide space for maintenance to buoys and other aids to navigation, as well as carpentry, repairs to electronic equipment, and storage for emergency response equipment. There will also be office space and training facilities at the centre.

Ouellette says the new building will have the latest in heating mechanical and air condition meeting — all lacking in current temporary locations.

“It will be nice for people to have a nice, comfortable place to work in,’’ he says.

In February, Shea announced that a 15-year lease with an expected value of $4.5 million had been awarded to a Charlottetown company to construct a new Integrated Service Centre for the Canadian Coast Guard. With renewal options and a building fit-up component, the expected value of the lease could be as high as $11.7 million.

The contract was awarded to APM Landmark following a public tendering process.