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Orions take flight one last time |
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by Gina Hamilton
Coastal Journal staff
 BRUNSWICK -- Brunswick Naval Air Station has served as the home of the P3 Orions, Navy surveillance planes, for more than 50 years. But on Saturday, the very last P-3 Orions took off from BNAS, bound for a mission in Central America before coming home to their new base in Jacksonville, Florida.
The airfield is being decommissioned, and will close in 2011.
The squadron, called Patrol Squadron 26, is the last squadron stationed in Brunswick. Some of its members will participate in the drug interdiction mission in Central America, while others are being deployed to Europe. Still others are doing duty on the horn of Africa, fighting against piracy. They will come back together at their new base in a few months’ time.
Like Patrol Squadron 26, Patrol Squadrons 8 and 10 left Brunswick for good during the course of the past year. With the departure of the roughly 360 men and women of VP-26, there will be fewer than 300 Navy personnel left at Brunswick Naval Air Station.
Hopes are high that the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Agency will be able to capitalize on the property left behind to establish a civilian presence at BNAS. One of the major plans is for aviation to continue on the base.
However, prospective tenants are not yet beating down the doors at the base. “We hope that the former BNAS is going to be home to aircraft repair, maintenance and overhaul companies,” said Art Mayo, chairman of the board of directors of MRRA on Saturday, while standing in Hangar 6. “We have had no interest shown by major airliners, FedEx or UPS, because there isn’t much call for that type of air traffic. But companies like Boeing make jets and don’t finish them off. In one of the biggest hangars in the world, which we’re now standing in, a 747 could be brought in for finish work or refurbishing.”
MRRA has signed Embry Riddle, an aeronautical university which already has a presence on the base, to be part of the redeveloped property. A joint venture by the University of Maine and the Community Colleges will also have a campus on the base, specializing in advanced engineering studies.
MRRA requested that the airfield be turned over to them earlier than the final departure date so that they have a better chance of attracting aviation tenants. The Navy’s departure will cause a loss of some $187 million dollars annually in economic activity, as well as thousands of jobs.
If the Redevelopment Agency can move into the property earlier than scheduled, it will have a better hand to play in any future negotiations with potential tenants. MRRA is also hoping to attract some clean-energy tenants, and in September, members were part of a delegation to Europe to discuss potential opportunities with businesses and investors in green energy. On November 18, MRRA hired Tom Brubaker to spearhead efforts to establish a renewable energy park on the base.
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