OTTAWA - Canada’s largest union broke ground today on construction of its new national headquarters in Ottawa.
“Today we start the ball rolling on this exciting new chapter in our union’s history,” said Paul Moist, national president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees.
The new head office will be located on Tremblay Rd. and St. Laurent Blvd. in the city’s east end. It will house the 153 staff members of CUPE National as well as the 14 staff members of CUPE’s Ottawa regional office. The project cost is $20 million. CUPE expects to move into its new space in the fall of 2007.
“This state-of-the-art, ‘green’ building will provide the space and amenities our staff need to serve our membership and will allow us to accommodate future growth,” said CUPE National Secreatary-Treasurer Claude Généreux.
CUPE has outgrown its buildings at 21 Florence St. and 20 James St. in Centretown, which it has occupied since 1980. After studying several options, including retrofitting and expanding the existing space, it was decided that purchasing land and erecting a new, custom-designed building would be the most practical and economically sound solution.
Among the new building’s outstanding features:
- Five story office building totaling 82,000 square feet of usable space.
- Will be one of only a handful of Ottawa building projects registered under the Canada Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards.
- Garden and sustainable green spaces.
- News conference, media theatre and videoconferencing facilities.
- Walking distance to Transitway.
- Barrier-free design for people with disabilities.
CUPE’s partners in this project are Ottawa architectural firm Bryden Martel, general contractor Massicotte Construction Ltd. and project managers Jackson-Brown Associates. Engineering services are being provided by the Ainley Group and Genivar.
For more information:
Claude Généreux
National Secretary-Treasurer
514-884-5074 (c)
Louise Leclair
Communications Director
778-838-0699 (c), 613-237-1590, ext 264 (w)