PRESQUE ISLE – Construction work is in full swing at the Nordic Heritage Center as site officials prepare to host the 2006 Biathlon Junior World Championship.

Contractors are erecting a $300,000 building next to the lodge at the Nordic Heritage Center to provide visiting biathlon teams with private space to change their clothes and wax their skis, Max Saenger, Maine Winter Sports Center spokesman said Monday.

The MWSC owns the Nordic Heritage Center and is funding the construction of the new facility, which Saenger called a wax building.

Though not necessary for events like the North American Championship, a wax building is mandatory for international competitions such as the World Juniors or the World Cup, where teams from several nations gather to compete, Saenger said.

The two-story, L-shaped facility, which is being built into the side of a hill so that both floors are accessible from the outside, will boast 26 wax cabins, bathrooms on both floors, a doctor’s office for anti-doping control, and a competition office.

The building, which is approximately 166 feet long by 22 feet wide, will help to reduce crowding at the lodge during big events. Athletes and their wax technicians will have a changing room and waxing room to use and they’ll have the key to the space so they can come and go as they please. Coaches and team captains will gather at the competition office to get race information and weather reports.

In the past, coaches have had to congregate at the lodge to get that information.

“If you have five coaches trying to come up to the lodge to get information, that’s no problem,” Saenger said. “But if you have 50 coaches, it can get very crowded.”

Plans for the building began in the summer of 2002 at about the same time that the Nordic Heritage Center won the bid to host the 2006 World Juniors event. Saenger said that the MWSC had expected to build the facility as it worked toward hosting world cup and championship events, but that the two happened to work out at around the same time.

The MWSC sought input from biathletes, coaches and other officials on how to build the best facility possible. Saenger said the result was a topnotch wax building – “probably one of the best ones in the world.”

The individual wax cabins are functional, offering several electrical outlets, ventilation and a window, and are roomy as well, Saenger said.

Upstairs, the cabins have an 8- by 9-foot changing room and a 10- by 14-foot waxing room. Most of the downstairs spaces are a little smaller. Officials also are looking into setting up a wireless network in the building.

The facility has not been named yet, Saenger said, though the MWSC is hoping an interested party will donate to the non-profit for the naming opportunity.

Construction on the facility began in May and substantial completion is expected by the end of the summer. Saenger said the MWSC plans to have the facility ready for use by December, when the Nordic Heritage Center will host the TAMC Nordic Heritage Sprints as part of the North American Super Tour.

“This winter will give us the chance to use it [the facility] and to make sure everything works,” Saenger said.