AERIAL DEFENCE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXII, 14 March 1939, Page 3

AERIAL DEFENCE

AUCKLAND STATION BUILDINGS TO COST MORE THAN £IOO,OOO liuiied Press Associationl AUCKLAND, 13th March. The entering into by the Government nt a contract to construct airmen’s barracks and a decision to consider tender- 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 in Whenuapai, near Kobsonville. The amounts involved in the construction of these barracks and quarters are likely to total more than £IOO.000 and give a further illustration of the ambitious nature of the defence programme in Whenuapai, the pace of whic’’ 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 to be in the vicinity of £BO,OOO. The airmen’s barracks will make provision for -the accommodation and recreation of a permanent force of more than 100 men, with special quarters for sergeants, corporals and other ranks. The barracks will be two-storey, but the officers’ mess and quarters, for which tenders are to be invited, will be single only. Like the barracks, the officers’ section will comprise a central block with flanking wings connecting by corridors and containing 28 bedrooms. It will probably cost from £25.000 to £30,000.