OXFORD — The future of the former Oxford Aviation facility on Number Six Road remains uncertain, but new interest in leasing the vacant, county property continues, an official said this week.

Glen Holmes, executive director of the Western Maine Economic Development Council, said a Maine-based company toured the 40,000-square foot building two weeks ago.

“It’s such a specific situation,” he said. Marketing efforts at present must be geared toward the aeronautical community, he said.

Officials said efforts to find a new tenant have been slow, in part, because the type of business that moves into the site at this point must be aviation-related and meet Federal Aviation Administration requirements.

Since closure of the aircraft refurbishing business at the Oxford County Regional Airport, about five companies have approached commissioners about the property, but only two remain as viable possibilities, Holmes said Wednesday.

Because the property is under an environmental closure plan with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, it must meet certain guidelines before it can be inhabited.

Commissioners said they are getting to the point where a decision can be made on the property’s future.

“This thing has cost so much money, it’s ridiculous,” commission Chairman Caldwell Jackson said.

ldixon@sunjournal.com

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