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The group overseeing reuse plans for the Brunswick air station is moving to the base.

By DENNIS HOEY Staff Writer January 4, 2008

BRUNSWICK — The organization that is overseeing the redevelopment of the Brunswick Naval Air Station is about to become part of the base.

This month, the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority will move its staff and operations into the former Naval Criminal Investigations Service building on Bath Road.

Officials say the move from offices on Maine Street will give the authority the kind of exposure and proximity it needs to better market properties.

The Navy will lease the building at no cost to the authority, which will make renovations estimated to cost $38,000, said Executive Director Steven Levesque. The building is just outside the base's secured main gate, so the staff and visitors will be able to move freely without going through security.

"Both the federal government and the Navy want us to be closer to the base," Levesque said. "It should serve our purposes well for several years, until the base closes."

The move begins a new era for the Brunswick Naval Air Station, which must be closed by September 2011.

The Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority has replaced Brunswick and Topsham's local redevelopment authorities, which last month approved the master reuse plans for the 3,200-acre air station and the 75-acre Topsham Annex.

The authority must implement both reuse plans, taking responsibility for finding tenants to use the buildings and land.

Brunswick's plan envisions a range of uses, from a resort hotel and golf course, to a college campus, hiking trails, aviation maintenance, stores and office space.

Former state Sen. Arthur F. Mayo III of Bath will chair the authority's nine-member board of directors.

"We should be closer to the base because we are going to become more and more involved with marketing it as time goes on. It makes good sense," Mayo said of the move.

Levesque, when asked how the authority can market property that won't be available for nearly four years, said, "We need to start networking. We've had some discussions already with interested parties. Believe me, there is interest."

Levesque said the Navy probably won't let anyone occupy the land or buildings on the base until it closes. Though an early property conveyance is possible, Levesque remains skeptical because a private business operation could interfere with the Navy's mission.

"For someone to get onto the main base before 2011 ... it's just not practical," he said. "I don't see the Navy spinning off buildings here and there."

The 2,300-square-foot Naval Criminal Investigations Service building, which was used by Navy investigators and base security, is now vacant, said John W. James, spokesman for the Brunswick Naval Air Station.

Mayo said the next meeting of the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority will begin at 9 a.m. on Jan. 15 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Freeport. The meetings will move to a different community each month.

Staff Writer Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 725-8795 or at: dhoey@pressherald.com