Electric Boat has officially broken ground on a new warehouse site in North Stonington that will service its shipyards at both Groton and Quonset Point, Rhode Island.
The 480,000-square-foot facility will support the construction of Virginia- and Columbia-class submarines, warehousing parts arriving from suppliers around the U.S.
The submarine builder paid $5.5 million to acquire the nearly 55-acre property from the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation.
The site, at 45 Frontage Road, sits just off I95. EB has not said how much it will pay to develop the warehouse facility.
Beth Rafferty, Electric Boat’s vice president of facilities, said the warehouse is part of the shipyard’s long-term strategy of moving support operations off its waterfront sites.
“It’s a key piece of how we’re thinking differently about our space, its growth and our future,” she said. “Freeing up the room for shipbuilders to be able to keep pace with the growing demands of submarine production for the U.S. Navy.”
The plan calls for 13 loading docks, three vehicle ramps into the building and 75 parking spaces.
The site plan, prepared by SLR Consulting, notes three shifts at the warehouse, with 73 employees maximum on a shift. The company employs about 23,200 people between its shipyards in Groton and Rhode Island.
The building is expected to open in the middle of next year.
