As described in Michael McGoldrick’s 1994 article in the Telltale, “Building up the membership and developing a club identity is only half the story of how NSC got its start. The other half of the story has to do with the construction of the facilities we see today. This was no small accomplishment, and it is worth repeating that in the 1970’s there was almost nothing there. In fact, the shoreline of the Ottawa River almost came up to Carling Avenue.”
In the summer of 1979 Bill Levesque (the Director of Planning and Development for Nepean’s Parks and Recreation Department) described the construction of the 300 meter breakwater as a very ambitious undertaking. At the time he told the Ottawa Citizen that “700,000 cubicyards of fill would be needed to complete it,” adding “Each truck carries 10 tons, so you’re looking at 70,000 trips”. He said that all of this fill would be generated by local construction activity. As a result, the rate at which the breakwater would be built would serve as a barometer for the health of the local economy and construction industry.
By 1983 the breakwater was largely completed, though far skinnier than what we see today.
