At two regional sites, elation; at a third, resignation
KITTERY, Maine -- The waiting was over, and when the news came, the reactions poured forth -- whistling, honking, and cheering in Groton, Conn., and Kittery, Maine, and a somber gathering in Brunswick, Maine, where locals began contemplating the future without a military base that has provided a sense of security and an anchor for the economy.
The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission, delivered mixed news, which was broadcast live on C-SPAN 2, to New England yesterday.
The commission voted to preserve the Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton and the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, while shuttering the Naval Air Station in Brunswick, which opened in 1943.
In cafes, banks, bars, and government offices, the news uncorked as much joy and relief in Groton and Kittery as sadness and disappointment in Brunswick.
In Brunswick, Maine Governor John Baldacci gathered with grim-looking local officials and hammered out a memorandum planning for the future redevelopment of the naval air station.
''For all of us, it's like getting kicked in the knees," said Joe Byrnes, a former Navy master chief who watched the vote with supporters of the air station at a Brunswick bar called Winner's. ''Everyone in the room was stunned. We were convinced, even led to believe, that closure was not an option."
The Brunswick air station covers 3,200 acres, generates $187 million for the local economy, and employs 3,493 enlisted personnel and 657 civilians, Navy officials say. The jobs might be moved to Florida, local officials said; the future for civilian workers is less certain. A redevelopment would take three to five years, and the base is likely to stay open for the next two, Navy officials said.
''It's an impossible task to overturn a recommendation by the commission," said US Senator Olympia J. Snowe, Republican of Maine. ''The key for us now is to see what we can do to help mitigate the economic loss."
The memorandum was signed by Baldacci and local officials from Brunswick and Topsham.
It sets forth a planning process to begin turning the base over to new, possibly commercial uses, said Brunswick town manager Donald H. Gerrish, who attended the signing.
''We have the capabilities to develop the facility and to make sure we work to replace the jobs that are lost," Gerrish said. ''Brunswick is a resilient community and a very positive one and we will make this into a positive direction."
Many, however, were hardly ready to accept the closure of a base whose Lockheed P-3 Orion air patrols and droning C-130
''The biggest thing for me is the homeland security," said Louise V. Ansari, a Brunswick councilor. ''I'm at a loss to understand why they would want to close it."
Kittery, home to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, seemed a world away by contrast. At Town Pizza Restaurant in Kittery, workers watched C-SPAN 2, sustained by pizza and pitchers of beer. The room fell silent as soon as the commissioners began deliberations.
The cook wore a yellow ''Save Our Shipyard" T shirt. When the vote came down, 7-1, to save Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, which was founded in 1800 at the mouth of the Piscataqua River, the gathering erupted in applause.
Meanwhile, a loud whistle, sounded down at the shipyard itself, blew for three ear-piercing minutes.
''I feel very, very good," said retired Navy Captain William D. McDonough, a former commander of the shipyard and leader of the Save Our Shipyard campaign. ''Thank God for a good, fair process by the BRAC commission. . . The fact that we had a good product made cheerleading easy."
Outside Town Pizza, car drivers honked their horns.
''There's a lot of relief," said Charlie Oeser, 32, a rigger at the shipyard for the past four years.
Closing Portsmouth would have eliminated about 4,510 jobs on the base and 4,656 jobs supported by it, and would have saved $1.3 billion over 20 years, according to Pentagon estimates.
Worried about losing his job, Oeser said he had cut back on dinners and movies out with his family. ''I'm not going to go out and buy a boat tonight," he said. ''But I am going to go out to dinner."
Similar scenes of jubilation swept workers and officials in Groton, where celebrations greeted the vote to save a sub base established in 1868 on the east side of the Thames River. Today, the base, sprawling over 687 acres, supports 16 attack submarines, and 8,000 jobs. It goes by the motto ''The First and the Finest."
''You would have thought we were a bunch of kids at a high school football game the way we got up and cheered," said Rick Stout, 60, a vice president at Charter Oak Federal Credit Union in Groton, where save ''Save Our Sub Base" banners fluttered outside.
Globe correspondent Michael Levenson contributed to this report. 
© Copyright 2006 Globe Newspaper Company.
