Atlantic Canadian Coast Guard base set for St. John's

St. John's will be home base for new headquarters for the Canadian Coast Guard Atlantic region.

Rob Moore,Newfoundland and Labrador's federal cabinet representative,announced $40-million to build thenew facility at the existing Coast Guard base in St. John's at a news conferenceWednesday morning.

A tender for site preparation is expected to be awarded next month and construction is scheduledto begin later this year.

The new buildingis expected to be completed in 2018, at which time the old structure will be torn down.

The federal government touts the soon-to-be tenderedfacility as "green and energy efficient," using tidal energy to heat and cool the building.

The Canadian Coast Guard Atlantic region has 1,900 employees634 of whom work onshore.

The approximate 200 employees at the St. John's facility will continue to be based at the new headquarters.