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Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 61, 14 March 1939, Page 15

BUILDING PROGRAMME

LARGE SUM INVOLVED

(By TeJegrapb—Press Association.) : AUCKLAND, March. 13. . The entering into by the Government of a contract to construct airmen'|S barracks and a decision to consider tenders for the erection of officers* messrooms and quarters is the latest development in the creation of an operational station for the Royal New Zealand Air Force at, Whenuapai, near Hobsonville. The amounts involved . in the construction of these barracks and quarters are likely to total more than, £100,000 and give a further illustration of the ambitious nature of tha defence programme in Whenuapai, tha pace of which has been accelerated. The successful tenderer for the men's barracks in Whenuapai is Mr. W. H. Whittaker, Sandringham. Though the price is not disclosed, it is thought ta be in the vicinity of £80,000. The airmen's barracks will .make provision for the accommodation and! recreation of a permanent force oi more than 100 men, with special quarters for sergeants, corporals, and other ranks. The barracks will be two-storey, but the officers' mess aiKf quarters, for which tenders are to be invited, will be single only. Like the barracks, the officers' section will' comprise s: central block with flanking wings connecting by/ corridors and containing 28 bedrooms. It will probably cost from £25,000 to £30,000. *