The federal government has awarded a $131.9 million contract for the construction of a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration center at Pearl Harbor.

NOAA said today federal economic stimulus legislation enacted early last year provided the funds for the project.

The center is to be build on Ford Island in the middle of Pearl Harbor. It will be housed in two renovated World War II-era hangars and a third, new building.

The facility will bring together in one place NOAA’s Pacific coastal and marine resources offices as well as its weather, tsunami and climate prediction facilities.

The contract was awarded to Walsh Construction Co. of Chicago.

U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye says the project will create about 3,000 jobs in Hawaii.