CFS Senneterre

CFS Senneterre
RCAF Station Senneterre
Part of the Pinetree Line
Senneterre, Quebec, Canada
CFS Senneterre
Coordinates	48°21′43″N 77°13′22″W / 48.36190°N 77.22271°W
Code	C-8
Site information
Owner	Private
Controlled by	Royal Canadian Air Force
Condition	Partially demolished, also repurposed
Site history
Built	1950
Built by	Royal Canadian Air Force
In use	1953-1988
Garrison information
Garrison	34 AC&W Squadron

CFS Senneterre, initially called RCAF Station Senneterre prior to 1967, was a long-range radar and Ground Control Intercept station, part of the Pinetree Line radar defence network, situated 40 miles north of Val D'Or, Quebec. Situated atop Mount Bell, east of the town of Senneterre, Quebec, construction started in 1950. By 1953 the 34 AC&W Squadron became operational. From 1968 to 1973 Senneterre was the backup to CFB North Bay, the regional command post; in the event it was incapacitated by a nuclear strike, Senneterre was designated an Alternative Command Post (ALCOP). In 1988 the station was deemed no longer necessary as a long-range radar, and closed. ^[1]

Post closure

After closure in 1988 some of the facilities were sold to private interests. At the operations site:

• Telebec purchased the southmost radar building and erected a cell phone tower 48°21′41″N 77°13′22″W / 48.36140°N 77.22291°W.
• The height finder building 48°21′45″N 77°13′21″W / 48.36261°N 77.22237°W has been demolished for unknown reasons.
• The operations building 48°21′42″N 77°13′21″W / 48.36180°N 77.22254°W was demolished after a fire in the early 1990s.
• The SAGE Annex 48°21′43″N 77°13′22″W / 48.36195°N 77.22271°W is intact and privately owned.
• The northmost standing radar building 48°21′43″N 77°13′20″W / 48.36208°N 77.22218°W is intact and privately owned.
• The TX and RX communications buildings have been repurposed by a local firearms club as indoor target ranges.

References

1. A History of the Air Defence of Canada, 1948-1997. Commander Fighter Group. 1997. ISBN 978-0-9681973-0-1.