Sailors, Civilians Reunite At Brunswick Naval Air Station
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BRUNSWICK, Maine (AP) — The Brunswick Naval Air Station has been closed long enough — five years — for the community to organize the first reunion for sailors and civilians.
Sailors and civilians from as far away as Hawaii, Washington state, Michigan, Wisconsin, Texas and Florida joined local residents this weekend to reminisce over the good times at the former Navy base, built in World War II to train Royal Navy pilots.
Organizer Jeff Simpson said he has fond memories of the U.S. Navy's P-3 Orion "sub hunter" patrol planes and other aircraft.
"Everybody misses the sound. You'd hear them humming all night long," said Simpson, who lives in Topsham along what was the flight path.
The Brunswick Naval Air Station formally closed on May 31, 2011, after being ordered closed by the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission.
The closing left the military with no active-duty airfield in New England. The Navy patrol aircraft, which kept watch over Soviet submarines in the North Atlantic during the Cold War, now operate from Jacksonville, Florida.
It was a blow both to the local economy and to a region where Navy personnel and their families were part of the fabric of the community.
But there are good memories. Simpson is the administrator of Remember Brunswick Naval Air Station Facebook page with more than 4,000 members.
For the reunion, golf and a barbecue were being held Saturday, followed by tour of redeveloped property. There's also a Sunday service in the chapel.
The 3,200-acre base has been transformed into a business campus that's called Brunswick Landing. The dual, 8,000-foot runways are now part of Brunswick Executive Airport.
Brunswick Landing has so far attracted 950 jobs, surpassing the goal of 700 jobs for the five-year mark in the base redevelopment plan. Those numbers will grow when online furnishings retailer Wayfair creates up to 500 jobs at a new customer service center.
The base is on track to reach up to 5,000 jobs over the next decade, said Steve Levesque, director of the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority.
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