NEWS BRIEFS sition for our customer.” The government of Nova Scotia es- timates its offshore potential to be ap- proximately 120 trillion cu ft. of natural gas and eight billion barrels of oil; it has already awarded a number of blocks to Shell and BP who have com- bined exploration commitments in ex- cess of $2 billion (US). PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND Major Charlottetown restoration project financed with $4 million provincial loan A published report says that the provincial cabinet has approved a $4 million loan from Island Investment De- velopment Inc. to a numbered com- pany owned by Charlottetown developer Charles Twele, to redevelop 61 and 63 University Ave., formerly the Sam the Record Man building. The loan will be for five years, amor- tized over 25 years, with a four per cent interest rate. The site will be turned into high-end offices, and work is scheduled to finish in early 2016. Cabinet also authorized Island In- vestment Development Inc. to renew a loan first issued in 2009 to Padinox Inc., currently owned by Timothy Casey. The original five-year loan was $3.65-million for expansion of ware- house and distribution facilities. The re- newal is for just over $1.2-million for an additional five-year term. The interest rate for this loan renewal is equal to the TD prime plus 1.25 per cent. Georgetown port receives funds from provincial, federal governments Both the federal and PEI govern- ments have decided to provide funds for the The Georgetown Port Inc. to complete upgrades and enhancement, with the goal of attracting new busi- nesses and visitors to the Prince Ed- ward Island community. The investments were announced Oct. 21 by Fisheries and Oceans min- ister Gail Shea (on behalf of Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency minister Rob Moore) and PEI Fisheries, Aqua- culture and Rural Development minis- ter Ron MacKinley in Georgetown. 16 – Fall 2014 — The Canadian Design and Construction Report The Georgetown Port Inc. will re- ceive $100,000 from ACOA, and $102,000 from the provincial Commu- nity Fund, for upgrades to an existing facility in Georgetown for use as a multi-purpose, multi-tenant facility. Completing these upgrades will enable Georgetown Port Inc. to attract local businesses and help them expand their capabilities. The Georgetown Port Inc. is also re- ceiving $38,500 through ACOA, and $7,500 from the province, through the Regional Development Support Pro- gram, to execute the Tourism Atlantic Strategic Tourism Expansion Program (STEP), and complete a port readiness workshop for the Town of Georgetown. Through the implementation of the STEP program, the port hopes to im- prove its tourism product and increase cruise ship visitation to the area. NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR School builders dig up old airplanes Construction workers preparing a new school's site in St. John's east end have discovered an array of debris dis- carded by the American military more than 50 years ago, including an airplane fuselage. The new school is being built on the site of a former dump for the old Fort Pepperell army base, which operated from 1940 to 1961. Provincial transportation and works minister David Brazil told the CBC that the amount of garbage and waste being dug is slowing down site prepa- ration and remediation efforts, but isn't expected to delay the planned Septem- ber 2016 opening of the new school. Brazil said it's costing extra money to safely dispose of the material, which includes, among other things, vehicle parts, appliances and building materi- als. Then contractors discovered the airplane fuselage. “If you go down 10 feet and you fig- ure there will be metals to that, and then you find the top of a fuselage that goes another 20 feet, well, you can't just cut off the top of that. You have to go down and remediate the rest of the land,” Brazil has been quoted as saying. The provincial government awarded a $3.3 million contract in August to Marco Services Ltd. of St. John's, cov- ering site preparation and remediation, the construction of foundations and footings, the assembly of structural steel and the installation of water and sewer systems. The province will issue a second contract to construct the building. New safety training facility opens in Mount Pearl The Newfoundland and Labrador Construction Safety Association (NLC- SCA) has recently re-opened a state-of- the-art safety training centre in Mount Pearl. “We've seen tremendous growth in the industry in the past 10 years,” said NLCSA chairperson Denis Galway. He said the recent consolidation of opera- tions in the St. John's metro area al- lows the association to have dedicated classrooms for specific training pro- grams such as Fall Protection and Con- fined Space Entry under one roof. “We have also incorporated the latest tech- nology in student response systems and audio visual equipment, including video conference capabilities,” he has been quoted as saying in a published report. The association outgrew its office and training space on Glencoe Dr. in 2011 and added a temporary training facility on Old Penneywell Rd. Now that the renovations on Glencoe Dr. – which doubled the space to 12,000 sq. ft. - are complete, the temporary site on Pennywell Rd. has been closed. “In 10 short years the Construction Safety Association has expanded its presence in the Metro region more than four-fold, and has experienced similar growth at its facilities in Corner Brook," Galway has been quoted as saying. There are about 20,000 construction workers in Newfoundland and Labrador. The NLCSA has 23 staff working out of its Mount Pearl location and two out of Corner Brook.