New Marine Patrol building to open to public Monday

GILFORD — The new David T. Barrett Marine Patrol Headquarters building in Gilford will open to the public on Monday, Oct. 31, at 8:15 a.m.

The new headquarters building is an ADA-compliant facility that offers expanded services allowing customers to perform numerous water-related transactions from a single convenient location and provides available meeting, training and classroom spaces for New Hampshire's boating community as well as other state agencies, and local law enforcement operating in the area.

Based on Lake Winnipesaukee and located in Gilford near the Route 3 and Route 11 corridors, the new facility will serve all boaters who use New Hampshire's public waters, including the Seacoast. By vessel, the new facility is located in Glendale Bay on Lake Winnipesaukee. Marine patrol facilities previously serving the public at 3 Higgins Drive in Belmont and 67 Communications Drive in Laconia will be consolidated into the new Gilford facility. Public services will no longer be offered at the Belmont and Laconia locations.

Staff at the new headquarters will provide boating education classes, commercial boat licenses, moorings permits, boat registrations, law enforcement services, and marine patrol fleet maintenance.

The new facility features storm water filtering by underground drainage, filtered roof run-off drainage, porous concrete, green spaces designed to capture and filter run-off, energy-efficient LED lighting, a modern and efficient HVAC system, and sun tunnels. The building provides ADA compliant accessibility.

Construction of the new headquarters began in September 2015. The facility was built on the site of the former Marine Patrol Headquarters which was built in 1961. A 2011 study of the former building identified numerous issues, including serious structural problems, lack of ADA compliance, excessive energy costs, and poor drainage and run-off containment from the parking lot.

The new Marine Patrol building in Gilford was nearing completion in August. It will open to the public on Monday, Oct. 31. (File photo)