BANGOR – During its final minutes of deliberation Friday night, the base closure commission voted to keep open the Naval Reserve Center, maintaining seven of the city’s military jobs.

The Department of Defense originally recommended closing the center, located off Outer Hammond Street, and relocating it to the Brunswick Naval Air Station. But after the Base Realignment and Closure Commission voted on Wednesday to close the Brunswick station – eliminating an estimated 4,800 civilian and military jobs – the Bangor center had nowhere to go.

“The closure of the Brunswick Naval Air Station was an unthinkable loss to the state of Maine,” U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe said in a prepared statement. “At the very least, Bangor will retain the Naval Reserve Center that would have moved to Brunswick. We all know the essential role the Bangor Naval Reserve Center plays for our state, and I’m thrilled the commission voted to retain it.”