By The Associated Press

Federal, state and town officials toured the Brunswick Naval Air Station on Wednesday as part of the town’s efforts to decide if it should be used as an airport after the base closes.

Representatives from the Federal Aviation Authority, the Maine Department of Transportation and the town visited the base for three hours, where they were given a briefing by base officials.

Depending on the availability of funding, a feasibility study could be launched next spring to examine the airfield’s facilities, the market, public sentiment and similar issues.

“Whether or not this will continue to be used as an airport is a tough question,” said Assistant Town Manager Patricia Harrington.

The Base Realignment and Closure Commission voted Aug. 24 to shut down Brunswick Naval Air Station as part of the military’s massive reorganization. The closure is expected to be complete within six years.

Brunswick and Topsham are forming local redevelopment authorities to determine what the base should look like in the future. All of the 3,220-acre base is in Brunswick except 80 acres that are in Topsham.

Nobody knows for sure what the facility will be in the future, but it’s been speculated that it will probably be a mix of uses that could include housing, business, offices, light industry, education and recreation.

The airfield portion of the base has two parallel 8,000-foot runways, three airplane hangars and a new air traffic control tower that is having $5 million in new electronic and communications equipment installed in the next few months.

State House of Representatives Speaker John Richardson, who lives in Brunswick, said it’s important to examine whether the airfield could be used as a military reserve facility, as well as for commercial cargo and passenger planes.

“Brunswick Naval Air Station, given its close proximity to coastal Maine, might be the perfect place to ship lobsters throughout the world,” he said. “We need to be thinking along those lines.”

Turning a closed military air base into a working airport isn’t new. In Portsmouth, N.H., the Pease International Airport has operated at the former Pease Air Force Base since the base closed down in 1991.

The New Hampshire Air National Guard has used the airport for its KC-135 planes since the Air Force left, said Dave Mullen, deputy director of the Pease Development Authority.

At one time, the airport was also used by Atlantic Coast and Business Express commuter airlines and by an air freight company, Mullen said.

It is now used by Pan Am, which has temporarily suspended its flights. Allegiant Air, which is based in Las Vegas, will have scheduled flights between Pease and Orlando, Fla., beginning Oct. 28, Mullen said.

The facility also handles charter passenger planes on occasion, and has been used by airlines to park their planes.

Despite the variety of uses at the airport, the facility still runs a deficit of more than $1.7 million a year, Mullen said. The gap is offset by other operations at Pease International Tradeport, which is the home to more than 200 businesses in addition to the airport.

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On the Net:

Brunswick Naval Air Station: http://www.nasb.navy.mil/