Foymount

History

The Pinetree Line was first conceived during the Cold War when fears of a Soviet air attack against North America were running high. For that reason, in the late 1940s, U.S. and Canadian defence chiefs put their heads together and developed joint defence plans which included a series of 33 prime radar stations stretching from coast to coast across Canada.

Construction on the radar stations began in the late 1940s. For the most part, their purpose was to detect incoming Soviet aircraft. The next step was to direct interceptor aircraft to other points within their area of coverage. Wherever possible, each station was located on the highest point of land within its jurisdiction. Typically that was on a hill or mountain top.

RCAF Station Foymount was built in 1950. It was located on the historic Opeongo Road, atop the Opeongo Mountains in Renfrew County. Accordingly, the operations building towered 1800 feet above sea level. In addition to the radomes, receiving and transmitting equipment, and the usual combined mess, quarters and maintenance buildings, the station also included 65 houses, a school, medical and dental facilities, a recreation room with a gym, swimming pool, general store, post office and a host of other amenities. Water came from a 100,000 gallon reservoir that drew its source from a nearby lake. There was a sewage treatment plant right on the premises. The station was both a fully self-contained and self-supporting community. As a result, it contained all the facilities one would expect to find in any similarly sized civilian village. Initial personnel estimates were 38 officers and 343 mixed ranks and civilians.

RCAF Station Foymount became fully operational in September 1952. In May 1953 the 32 Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron moved in to assume the Ground Control Intercept role. By 1963, computer technology advanced to the point where defence authorities in Ottawa were able to directly automate and control the interceptors. As a consequence, they upgraded Station Foymount to intruder-detection only and renamed the unit the 32 Radar Squadron.

The unification of the Canadian Armed Forces in 1967 resulted in more reshuffling and re-designation of ranks, roles and titles. By 1968, the station was operating as a long range radar facility and field training school and no longer assumed any Norad functions. In 1970 the military assigned a total of 208 military and civilian personnel to the station.

Military downsizing in the early 1970s led to the eventual closure of CFS Foymount. The radar stations at CFS Falconbridge and CFS Lac St, Denis were powerful enough to cover Foymount’s existing territory. Since there was no further need for CFS Foymount, the military closed the station in October 1974. They dismantled the radar towers and operations and sold the remaining buildings. The buyer later defaulted on his property taxes, forcing the township to repossess the buildings for outstanding tax arrears.

Today, Foymount is slowly coming back to life. Over time the township sold many of houses which are now occupied and attractively renovated. Many of the buyers purchased the homes for as little as the cost of the unpaid taxes. Several commercial operators leased the buildings from time to time. These included the Black Water Factory which manufactured high quality outerwear until about 2010.

Foymount still contains a number of ruins such as the group of derelict apartment buildings that are currently off limits. Nonetheless, the current residents are eager to rebuild their community and recapture the strong social and community ties from Foymount’s military heyday.