Details of new CFS St. John’s facility released
Defence Construction Canada has released a land use assessment as part of the approvals process for the construction of a new multi-use facility for CFS St. John’s in Newfoundland and Labrador. The document provides various details and sketches of the new facility, which encompasses two buildings – the main building for lodger units and a smaller standalone building for the Military Family Resource Centre – and a large military vehicle pool.
The new facility will replace numerous individual buildings that are located around the Pleasantville area in the East End of the City. Those buildings were originally built by the American Army in the 1940s and inherited by the Government of Canada when the United States Pepperrell Air Force Base closed in 1960. In recent decades, the buildings have suffered from various maintenance problems and have become inadequate to meet the current operational needs of CFS St. John’s and its lodger units.
Photo Credit: AMEC Americas Ltd., Land Use Assessment Report: Pleasantville Consolidation Report, March 2009
The four-storey main building will comprise approximately 24,000 square metres of floor area, with portions of the building being designed for the construction of additional floors to meet future requirements. The Military Family Resource Centre will be a much smaller building – approximately 825 square metres in floor area. The total site area is approximately 63,500 square metres. A large number of parking lots – 218 – will be provided for staff, reservists and the visiting public, while 135 oversized parking lots will comprise the new military vehicle parking area.
Both buildings will be designed to achieve a LEED® Canada Silver Rating. LEED®, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a green building construction standard that is being endorsed by various governments, including the federal government, in current building projects nationwide.
A public information session is being held at the Royal Canadian Legion on The Boulevard at 19h00 on June 16, 2009. Following this hearing, the St. John’s Municipal Council will make a ruling on whether the project will be able to proceed with the construction phase.
CFS St. John’s is a Maritime Command facility that provides support to HMCS CABOT (Naval Reserve), the local detachment of the Canadian Forces Naval Engineering School, the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, 728 Communications Squadron, 56 Field Engineer Squadron, 36 Service Battalion and Air Reserve Flight Torbay.
