Renovation of the former Saint Martin Tourism Office is in progress and due to be completed in September 2025. It will become the new Department of Culture and Heritage. (Photo Robert Luckock)
MARIGOT--Collectivité President Louis Mussington, accompanied by Vice President Bernadette Davis, technical teams and relevant department heads, visited a number of work sites on Wednesday to view progress with construction.
The visit to the Fire Station in La Savane. (Collectivité photo)
The scheduled visits included restroom facilities in Orient Bay and the Cul de Sac departure area for the ferries to Pinel, Ghislaine Rogers kindergarten and elementary school Elie Gibs in Grand Case, the Fire Station in La Savane (two phases of work) and the former tourism office in Sandy Ground.
In Orient Bay and Cul de Sac, the completed work included plumbing, cleaning, painting and tiling. The Orient Bay project was realized by the Technical Services Department of the Collectivité. The cost of the Cul de Sac facility was 23,000 euros.
At the Ghislaine Rogers nursery school, the project provided the school with additional space for a new principal’s office and a room for teaching assistants. The building is aligned with an existing container, using the same construction method. The complex is clad in wood, with a roof and an access ramp with guardrails. The cost of the completed work was 200,000 euros.
Work at the Elie Gibs School consisted of the construction of a modular building separate from the school intended to accommodate children who swim during school hours. The building includes a storage area, a toilet for people with disabilities, and girls' and boys' changing rooms equipped with showers, washbasins and toilets. The completed project cost 290,000 euros.
The phase one objective of the project at the Fire Station is to upgrade the bio-environmental standards of the Saint-Martin Fire Station. The building envelope needed to be completely renovated in order to improve its energy and environmental performance and the working conditions required for the essential activities of a Rescue Centre.
The work required thermal insulation on the false ceiling and façade, replacement of exterior joinery, renovation of the main entrance canopy, modification of certain parapets for architectural harmonisation, complete overhaul of the roof structure, replacement of air conditioning units for centralised air conditioning, replacement of the low-voltage switchboard and electrical network, and replacement of lighting with LED lighting.
The work started in September 2024 and ended June 2025 at a cost of 1,450,928 euros.
Phase two at the Fire Station consists of construction of an extension to the north of the barracks, consisting of a training room and a switchboard on the first floor and a maintenance room and personal protective equipment (PPE) room on the ground floor, plus creation of two additional sanitary bays to the south for parking ambulances, a vehicle washing station and renovation of roads and parking spaces.
Phase two is expected to be completed at the end of 2026 at a provisional cost of 1,611,801 euros.
The last visit was to the former Saint Martin Tourism Office in Sandy Ground, badly damaged
by Hurricane Irma.
The project involves renovating and refurbishing the tourist office into a centre for promoting the culture and intangible heritage of Saint-Martin. Nature of the work: replacement of the metal roofing and wooden cladding. Replacement of wooden and aluminium joinery (wooden shutters, windows, French windows, roller shutters).
Renovation of metalwork (sliding gate and railings). Repainting and replacement of carpeting. Renovation of plumbing and electrical systems. Renovation of roads and utilities. It was noted the arch ceiling with the beautiful artwork caved in during the hurricane and required a new ceiling.
The cost of the work is 502,419 euros and is estimated to be completed in September 2025.
