Reuse of BNAS advances on two proposals
Though the closure of the Brunswick Naval Air Station is still a little less than three years out, plans to redevelop the 3,200-acre base are moving forward. Oxford Aviation recently said it plans to open a facility there and create 200 jobs, joining other tenants already slated to occupy part of the base, such as Bowdoin College and Southern Maine Community College.
Recently, the reuse plan for the base cleared another hurdle: Last month, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development gave its approval to the reuse plan developed by the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority, a “major milestone,” according to MRRA Executive Director Steve Levesque, because HUD is the only federal agency that can veto a base-closure plan, according to The Times Record in Brunswick. By federal law, any base-closure plan is required to address housing and social services needs for the homeless, usually by allocating a portion of base housing for that purpose. But because BNAS housing is owned by British firm Balfour Beatty and not the Department of Defense, Brunswick’s plan instead calls for those buying property at the base to put $600 per buildable acre into a fund for homeless services provider Tedford Housing. That fund is expected to total $800,000, according to the paper. HUD’s approval allows the Navy to begin performing appraisals on the property as part of the process to sell it to private owners.
And the Navy is also looking to get a jump on the redevelopment process by beginning a two-year-long radiological assessment, according to The Times Record. The Navy plans to launch the Historical Radiological Assessment this month, which entails finding out from past base personnel where and when radioactive material was handled or stored. This is the first time the HRA has been done while a base is still open, and Navy officials hope starting the process now will allow for a faster transition when the base closes in 2011.
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