BRUNSWICK (AP) – The military has staked its claim to 72 acres of land at the Brunswick Naval Air Station, allowing the redevelopment of the rest of the base to move forward.

The Navy’s formal declaration of surplus property indicates the Maine Army National Guard will get 51 acres for a reserve training center, the Federal Aviation Administration will get 10 acres including the control tower, and the Coast Guard will get another 11 acres.

With Tuesday’s announcement, local officials are free to begin screening proposals to reuse or redevelop the remainder of the 3,045-acre base when it closes in 2011.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for this community,” said Thomas Farrell, Brunswick’s director of parks and recreation, which is assessing several parcels including the base’s nine-hole golf course, a fitness center and a field house.

Brunswick, Freeport, Durham and Harpswell, as well as all of the communities in Sagadahoc County, are eligible to submit proposals by the May 14 deadline, said Jeffrey K. Jordan, deputy director of Brunswick’s Local Redevelopment Authority.

The Navy’s list of available buildings and lands includes several hangars, taxiways and runways; 16 administrative buildings with more than 114,000 square feet of space; an auto equipment repair shop; warehouses; a bowling center; a child-care center; a store; and several athletic fields and playing courts.

Redevelopment officials had been waiting since a November deadline came and went to learn which parcels and buildings would be available for reuse.

Many other agencies are expected to seek some of the land. In particular, those that serve the homeless, such as the Tedford Shelter in Brunswick, will be encouraged to submit proposals to use base housing.

Theo Holtwijk, Brunswick’s director of planning and development, said the town’s Conservation Commission has identified four parcels totaling 1,047 acres that it would like to see preserved as open space.

Bowdoin College Senior Vice President Bill Torrey said the college intends to seek ownership of 450 acres on the western border of the base.

And Brunswick’s police department, which has labored for years in the basement of Town Hall, has its eyes on a parcel next to the base’s main entrance.

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Information from: Portland Press Herald, https://www.pressherald.com

AP-ES-02-07-07 0856EST