Hopedale, Labrador

1998 - Hopedale Revisited II - Garfield Flowers


Construction of the military base in Hopedale commenced in 1952 and took some five years to complete. The construction included a dock, about 1.5 miles of road from the dock to the base, the radar complex and all of the additional buildings required to service the complex. The complex became operational in 1957.

All of the buildings at the base were connected by corridors and designed in such a way that you could enter one door and walk through the entire complex without having to exit the buildings. There were an estimated 150 GI's (best guess based on the fact that there were 6 barracks - three for airmen, 2 for NCO's and one for Officers) employed in Hopedale. An additional 50 civilians were employed in areas such as the steam plant, the power plant, the plumbing plant and the motor pool.

There were four Troposcatter antennae located on a nearby hill. Two of these were 120 feet in height and faced the direction of Saglek. The other two were 60 feet in height and faced the direction of Goose Bay.

The base was located about two miles from the community of Hopedale. The Americans closed down the base in June of 1969 and they took the radome and the radar antennae when they left. The remains of the complex was initially handed over to Canadian Marconi who operated it for about three years, and then subsequently handed over to ITT who operated the complex for a additional two years. Best guess is that these organizations were involved in a telecommunications aspect.

The complex was finally closed in 1975, and what remained was handed over to the provincial government for disposal in 1976. Most of the structures were left unattended for many years and everything was finally cleared out in the 80's.

-- Garfied Flowers - Mayor of Hopedale - 21 February, 1998.