The Brunswick Executive Airport will receive more than $6 million from the federal government for a new aircraft hangar, perimeter fence and other improvements.

A $6.2 million grant award to the airport from the Federal Aviation Administration was announced Monday by Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.

More than half the award, about $3.6 million, will pay for a new general aviation hangar, said Steve Levesque, executive director of the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority. The authority is responsible for Brunswick Landing, a business park, residential development and airport on the site of the former Brunswick Naval Air Station that closed in 2011.

The gigantic hangars the Navy used when it operated the airport and sheltered submarine-hunting P-3 Orions are unsuitable for the small aircraft there now, Levesque said.

“They are using them now, but it is not very efficient,” he said. Civilian aircraft are also taking up space that could be leased to commercial tenants, he said. “The FAA agreed to build a smaller general aviation hangar to free up space in the large ones.”

The airport expects to receive permits and local approval to build the hangar this fall and begin construction next year. It is part of a $40 million, 10-year airport improvement plan.

Federal funds came through a program that provides money to convert former military airfields to civilian use.

Brunswick Executive Airport has also received more than $1 million to install perimeter fencing to deter wildlife, $1.2 million to improve airport drainage and more than $330,000 to repair utilities.

Peter McGuire can be reached at 791-6325 or at:

pmcguire@pressherald.com

Twitter: @PeteL_McGuire