VIPA contractor GEC LLC got started on construction of a new dockmasters building at Enighed Pond Marine facility last week.
Dockmasters on St. John will soon have a spiffy new office out of which to operate.
V.I. Port Authority contractor GEC LLC got underway last week on the first phase of construction which will bring a one-story 1,500-square foot dockmaster building to the Enighed Pond Marine Facility.
The St. Croix-based contractor was issued a notice to proceed on June 30 and last week started paving the area where cargo containers were formerly stored.
VIPA is paying for the $2.1 million project with the last of the federal GARVEE bonds. The bonds were issued to the authority in 2004 to cover construction costs of the Enighed Pond Marine Facility. The dockmaster building is the final phase of the over-all Enighed Pond project, which saw all barge traffic move from the Cruz Bay Creek to Enighed.
The building should be complete by March 2012, and will include two public restrooms, the dockmaster’s office and an office to process cargo moving through the facility, according to VIPA public information officer Monifa Marrero.
“The staff is really excited about the new building,” said Marrero. “Right now they are operating out of a trailer, so they are really looking forward to having a building.”
Once construction is complete, VIPA officials plan to officially name the facility after eminent St. John Senator Theovald Moorehead, Marrero added.
“While the facility has been officially named the Theovald Moorehead Marine Facility, we have never hosted a naming ceremony,” she said. “Once work on the building is complete, we’ll erect a sign and have an official ceremony.”
