BAR HARBOR – After two vagabond seasons, the Island Explorer shuttle bus has secured a permanent home at the heart of its Mount Desert Island operations, the Village Green.

Town councilors voted Tuesday to grant Downeast Transportation Inc. a lease for the small town-owned brick building located near the police station.

The centrally located building will serve as an information center, offering bus schedules and advertising local attractions and how to reach them by Island Explorer routes.

Ideally, a staff member will also be on hand to answer questions about the bus system, said Tom Crikelair, an independent consultant who manages the system for Downeast Transportation.

But most importantly, the building will house a new dispatch system powered by a global positioning satellite that will be able to pinpoint the location of any bus at any time.

Last summer, the bus dispatcher used a free corner of the Bar Harbor firehouse.

During the Island Explorer’s first season, the system operated without a dispatcher.

“We need a command-control center where our dispatcher will be able to sit at a computer terminal, see where buses are, and maintain communication with them,” Crikelair said.

Within the next few seasons, Island Explorer plans to apply its new GPS capability, installing video terminals at bus stops so passengers can track coming buses, and creating a Web page where people can watch the routes from their home computer.

The building’s previous tenants, The Islands Association of Museums & Historical Societies, have paid $1 rent per year to the town since 1989.

The lease will not expire until 2004.

IAMHS used the site primarily to provide information about its member institutions. But in recent years, the association has been unable to afford the cost of maintaining the building, and picked up income by subletting part of the facility to retailers.

The association told town councilors when they approved the sublet that if it could not sustain the cost of the building by 2001, it would terminate the lease.

On Dec. 15, Diane Kopec, vice president of IAMHS, sent a letter to Town Manager Dana Reed, requesting such a termination and recommending that Island Explorer be considered as the new tenant.

“We are pleased, as we believe most will be, that this town-owned property will continue to serve the community and its visitors,” Kopec wrote.

At their regular meeting Tuesday night, town councilors granted the association its termination. Details of a new lease with Island Explorer will be drafted in future meetings with town officials, Crikelair said.

The association made extensive renovations during the 11 years it occupied the building, however, Crikelair expects that some minor work will have to be done before Island Explorer can move in.

Wheelchair ramps will be installed to make the facility accessible to all visitors, and the communications and electrical wiring may have to be supplemented to run the new dispatch center.

Island Explorer expects to begin installing electronics by March 2001 to be prepared for the summer tourist season, Crikelair said.

Downeast Transportation may also seek funding from several sources, including a $75,000 grant from the National Park Service for structural improvements, and federal transit dollars to build public restrooms at the information center.

“We’ll certainly do what we can based on the dollars that come in,” Crikelair said.

Regardless of any future renovations, Island Explorer plans to work cooperatively with the IAMHS and local chambers of commerce to continue the building’s role as a community information center.

“We’re certainly open to sharing the space,” Crikelair said. “The last thing we want to do is anything that damages the character of that part of town.”