BANGOR – Brunswick Hall lay in ruins on the University College of Bangor campus Monday.

That’s a good thing.

The final stages of the three-story building’s demolition and the simultaneous refurbishing of neighboring Camden Hall mark the next steps in the college’s preliminary master plan to continue its slow transformation from the old Dow Air Force Base to college campus.

“Taking military barracks and trying to make them into state-of-the-art modern college buildings is a considerable challenge,” said Sheri Stevens, executive director of administrative services at the University of Maine at Augusta, which is affiliated with UCB. “We’re going slowly, but we’re encouraged.”

The $2.5 million demolition and renovation is part of the college’s $15 million master plan unveiled in 1999 to convert six buildings to residence halls, including three former barracks. Two barracks would be demolished, while two would be used for academics.

With crews set to haul away the rubble from Brunswick Hall by the end of next week and Camden Hall set to be refurbished by January 2003, UCB officials are starting to make some welcome headway in the plan, they said.

“Improving the appearance of the Bangor campus is a slow process,” Stevens said. “But this campus is certainly deserving.”

Both Brunswick and Camden halls have been empty since the early 1980s, city officials said.

Stevens said that given the college’s current financial situation, adding residence halls for some of the college’s 1,100 students could be years away, but “it’s still on the radar screen.” Currently, no students live on campus.

UCB officials count among the plan’s objectives: improving the campus’ physical organization; determining essential buildings and abandoning unneeded ones; improving pedestrian movement; improving entrances; reducing through-traffic and nonessential circulation; locating parking closer to facilities; offering on-campus housing; improving athletic facilities; and acquiring desirable adjacent property.

As part of the current project, which includes asbestos removal, the Brunswick Hall site will be turned into a lawn, Stevens said.

When completed, a restored Camden Hall will house the small college’s science labs and veterinary technology program, according to Stevens, who said those programs will be moved from Bangor Hall, which is undergoing its own interior renovations set for completion in 2003.

Once the Bangor Hall renovations are complete, the college’s administration and welcome center will move in, Stevens said.

The current work also comes on the heels of a new road off Maine Avenue into the campus near the Bangor International Airport. Developers also have made a proposal to place a space education center in Portland Hall, the base’s former movie theater on the college campus.

The visible improvements also come as welcome news to city officials looking to develop a nearby area into a business park.

“It’s important to future commercial development of the city,” said City Councilor Joseph Baldacci, who has served on the college’s advisory council. “A nice-looking higher education facility and a well-regarded facility helps strengthen the city.”