The Harpswell Select Board has granted a one-month extension to a group seeking to renovate the former administration building at George J. Mitchell Field for use as a nonprofit recreation center and meeting space.
The board had originally given the group until Jan. 15 to present a detailed proposal explaining how the facility would be funded and operated. However, at a Select Board meeting on Thursday, Jan. 16, a spokesperson for the group requested another month, which the three-member board granted unanimously.
The spokesperson, South Harpswell resident Dorothy Rosenberg, said the “ad hoc group” has been meeting to discuss the project but needs more time to develop a formal proposal. She said the group would deliver a full budget, architectural designs and a detailed business plan to the town by Feb. 15.
Rosenberg said the building has been deemed structurally sound and free of toxins, aside from some wallboard that would need to be removed anyway as part of the renovation. The group’s plan involves demolishing less desirable parts of the 7,700-square-foot building, she said.
“The location makes it actually uniquely well suited for development into a multipurpose recreation center,” Rosenberg said, “which could offer services for outdoor and water sports, and educational activities related to Harpswell’s history as a fishing and farming community.”
She quoted a cost estimate for the project of $1.5 million to $2 million, which would be funded through donations and grants. Rosenberg said the group has begun a preliminary search for funding sources and already has identified a donor willing to contribute $50,000.
The project would involve adding a separate structure for bathrooms and outdoor showers, she said. The building’s garage would be converted into a semi-open concert and event space that could serve as an alternative to Mitchell Field’s bandstand in bad weather.
“The limited scope of this proposal does not conflict in any way with other projects that are under consideration or being proposed for Mitchell Field,” Rosenberg told the Select Board.
She added that if the project is approved, her group would seek formal nonprofit status, either independently or under the umbrella of an existing nonprofit.
The 70-year-old structure, also known as Building 126, sits mostly empty and is used only for storage by the town harbor master. Built in 1954 as part of the U.S. Navy’s fuel depot for the former Naval Air Station Brunswick, it became property of Harpswell when the Navy conveyed Mitchell Field to the town in 2001.
Not everyone thinks the administration building should be saved. In an Aug. 26 memo to the Select Board, Mitchell Field Committee Chair Spike Haible said the majority of committee members want it torn down.
Select Board Chair Kevin Johnson also has repeatedly expressed his desire to have the building demolished. Voters are expected to decide at the next Town Meeting in March, possibly with the recreation center plan as an alternative option.
At the Select Board meeting, Haible restated the Mitchell Field Committee’s opposition to the rehab project and said he believes most residents would rather have more open space and an unobstructed view of Middle Bay.
He said the building has “no redeeming architectural value,” and that a recreation center would create unwanted parking and traffic. “It just doesn’t fit what we want to do,” Haible said.
But Lili Ott, a member of the group supporting the project, said she doesn’t think it conflicts with existing plans for the property.
“This would provide a covered meeting space for concerts and for when there are activities,” Ott said. “This would give us an alternate location that’s right there, and with bathrooms.”
Other group members include Harpswell residents Elaine Baur, Philip Conner, Kathy D’Agostino, Bob Gaudreau, LeAnne Grillo, and the Harpswell Neck Library Association, of which Select Board member David Chipman is president. Still, Chipman said he is only an adviser to the group.
If the group submits its proposal by the mid-February deadline, the Select Board expects to take up the issue again on Thursday, Feb. 20.
