BNAS closing won’t affect Great Pond

A recreation facility linked to Brunswick Naval Air Station is not expected to be affected by the Base Realignment and Closure commission’s recent decision to close the Navy base.

The Great Pond Outdoor Adventure Center, formerly known as Dow Pines, is located in Great Pond Township about 35 miles east of Bangor.

The Brunswick base has been managing the center since 2003, recreation supervisor Mark Verhey at the base’s Morale, Welfare, and Recreation Department, said Monday.

“It was a DOD [Department of Defense] asset, and it was transferred from the Air Force to the Navy,” he said.

The center is staffed by about eight civilians, but the Navy owns it and supervises the budget, hiring, firing and day-to-day operations.

“We are the closest facility that supports it, but because Great [Pond] is a regional asset, it will not be closed because of Brunswick’s closing,” Verhey said.

The site is a popular destination for military retirees of all branches of the service, John James, director of public affairs at Brunswick Naval Air Station, said Monday.

The center encompasses about 380 acres with frontage on three lakes, and includes rental cabins, campsites, year-round outdoor equipment rental, and recreational programming.

The lake and beach are accessible to the general public, but cabins, campsites and rental equipment are reserved for only military personnel and their families.

Its operation represents no cost to the taxpayers, James said.

The center currently is seeking a new manager, as the former director was let go. Verhey said he hopes to fill the position sometime in September.

Once the base closes, oversight for the outdoor center likely will be shifted to regional Navy headquarters in Newport, R.I.

“It’s yet to be determined who will oversee [the facility],” Verhey said. “That’s five years down the road.”

Navy officials at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery may become the managers of the center because it’s the closest Navy base to the area, he suggested.

“It’s not going to change hands. It’s not going to be transferred to GSA [General Services Administration] and turned into condos,” Verhey said. “It’s going to remain as it is now.”