Building under way for new border office

The U.S. Border Patrol is getting new facilities near key crossing points between the U.S. and Canada.

The agency moved into new offices in Baileyville in Washington County and Jackman in Somerset County late last year, and construction of a new office in Van Buren in Aroostook County is under way.

The nearly 25 border agents who regularly patrol eastern Washington County moved in early November into their new offices at Baileyville’s industrial park on state Route 9 and U.S. Route 1, according to a report by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Border agents who patrol the Jackman area moved into their new home around the same time.

Construction of the garages and vehicle maintenance bays at both sites remain on schedule for completion at the end of this month.

Two years ago, a combined construction contract totaling $12,696,000 was awarded for the Baileyville and Jackman stations to JCN Construction Co. of Manchester, N.H.

A separate contract for the $6,432,890 Van Buren station was awarded to CJP Associates of Caribou in April 2006.

Construction of that site began in June and is expected to be completed in November of this year, the Corps of Engineers added in its report.

A separate construction contract is expected to be issued in Van Buren on a garage and vehicle maintenance bay in early February with construction on the building to be completed sometime next year.

The new sites in Jackman and Baileyville are on minimum 10-acre lots and include a 10,800-square-foot building.

The Jackman station is located on state Routes 6 and 15, about 2.5 miles east of U.S. Route 201. It is near the Quebec border.

The facility in Van Buren is being built on U.S. Route 1A at the former site of the Van Buren Drive-in Theater.

The Van Buren and Baileyville stations are near the U.S. border with New Brunswick.

The Army Corps of Engineers previously rented space on the second floor of the Calais port-of-entry building at the Ferry Point Bridge.

Corps officials said there was not enough space there to accommodate future staffing and equipment needs. Federal officials looked at several sites before settling on the industrial park in Baileyville.