A contract has been awarded to begin preparations for the Ocean Choice cold storage and wharf development in Long Pond.

RJG Construction of St. John’s will do preliminary site work on Terminal Road in Conception Bay South.

It’s being called a small piece of work within the approved development site.

The area will be infilled to create a laydown and parking area to accommodate vehicles during the construction phase of the project.

Blaine Sullivan, President of Ocean Choice, says about a thousand cubic metres of blasted rock will be placed on the Terminal Road side of the development.

That work is expected to take a week or two.

According to the company, Ocean Choice’s development plans, which were revised in June, will see about 1.7 hectares of new land developed that will include a 90-metre-long finger pier, laydown and parking area, as well as a cold storage building where the company’s frozen-at-sea products will be stored until shipped to global markets.

The company says thirty to forty new jobs will be created once the cold storage facility is operational.