About the building
The CNSI building used to be a hotel called 'Talk of the Town'. It was a well known location for (wedding) parties and receptions. For years, when St Eustatius was still part of the Netherlands Antilles, it also thrived on 'driving licence' tourism from The Netherlands, until The Netherlands stopped recognising these licences and requested for additional driving exams being taken in the Netherlands. After hotel business stopped, the building was used by the Island government. The police and several administrative offices were temporarily accommodated in the building until they moved to their new locations. After the police and administrative offices moved out, the building remained empty for a couple of years until CNSI moved in in June 2013. Renovation activities took until April 2014 when CNSI was officially opened.
The CNSI building is still known by many people on St Eustatius as the 'Talk of the Town' or the 'Old Police Station'.
Other locations
In addition to the CNSI office located in the 'Talk of the Town', the institute makes use of two other locations at St Eustatius provided by the Island Government: the Fisheries Building in Lower Town close to the harbour for a mesocosm facility and the building and terrain of the agricultural and life stock department LVV in Concordia for agricultural research and test fields.
