The news comes after local nonprofits that had initially expressed interest in the project backed away, citing concerns about costs, conflicts with their organizational missions, and the location not being central to Harpswell’s geography.

Those organizations included the Harpswell Heritage Land Trust and Harpswell News, publisher of the Harpswell Anchor. Harpswell Aging at Home expressed continued interest but said it did not want to lead the effort.

Local officials indicated that the Harpswell Neck Library Association is involved with the new effort, but didn’t name any individuals.

Town leaders have expressed mixed opinions about saving the dilapidated structure. Some see a rare opportunity to create a community space near the water, while others view the project as incompatible with existing plans for the town-owned Mitchell Field.

A recently updated cost estimate included in a report from the Midcoast Council of Governments set the project’s likely price tag at $2.5 million to $3.6 million, higher than its initial estimate of at least $1.7 million.

But Harpswell resident Bob Gaudreau, a retired builder with whom the new group has consulted, said he believes the 7,700-square-foot building could be renovated for as little as $1 million if less desirable portions were demolished.

An anonymous benefactor already has agreed to make a major donation to the project, and town officials have said it would likely qualify to receive grant funding, as well. They said the new group plans to form its own nonprofit with the aim of raising funds for the renovation.

“This building is adequate; it has bones that are salvageable,” Gaudreau told the Harpswell Select Board at its Sept. 5 meeting. “I think I know my costs better than (the Council of Governments) and I think I understand what it would take to … renovate that building.”

He suggested renovating the kitchen, meeting and office areas, “with the remaining space taken down.” The attached garage could be converted into a semi-open space for music performances and other events, he added.

Gaudreau said he isn’t overly concerned that the building, near the south end of Harpswell Neck, isn’t central to the entire town.

“I think a community building is a community building, and once lost, it’s never going to be (replaced) at the same value,” he said.

The 70-year-old structure, also known as Building 126, sits mostly empty and is used only for storage by the town harbor master. Built in 1954 as part of the U.S. Navy’s fuel depot for the former Naval Air Station Brunswick, it became property of Harpswell when the Navy conveyed Mitchell Field to the town in 2001.

Not everyone thinks the administration building should be saved. In an Aug. 26 memo to the Select Board, Mitchell Field Committee Chair Spike Haible said the majority of committee members want it torn down.

Haible said the project would be too expensive and “does not present real promise for attracting viable nonprofit tenants capable of managing and funding the building’s operation and maintenance.”

“As well, the physical impact of the building on the waterfront is a barrier to future planning for the waterfront as open space and potential public use infrastructure,” the memo says. “The majority conclude the building should be removed from the site, remediation work accomplished, and a clean slate created for whatever comes next.”

The Select Board had planned to offer residents two options for the building’s future on Election Day in November: allow more time for a group to present viable renovation plans, or authorize the town to have it torn down at taxpayers’ expense.

However, in light of the new group’s emergence, local leaders decided to postpone the vote until the next annual Town Meeting in March.

The Council of Governments has estimated it would cost between $180,000 and $220,000 to tear down the structure. Some town officials have questioned whether the actual cost might be higher.

Select Board member David Chipman said he still believes the building can be successfully repurposed for the community’s benefit. Chipman is president of the only group mentioned as being involved in the new effort: the Harpswell Neck Library Association.

“What I would like to do is … give the (proposed) nonprofit until March to come up with a plan that’s acceptable to everyone,” he said at the Sept. 5 meeting. “After that, well then, March isn’t too late to come up with a demolition article.”

Chipman acknowledged his personal connection to the project but said he would limit his direct involvement. “Well, as a selectman, I can’t really be too involved in it, but I certainly would be involved,” he said.

Town officials discussed giving the new group until January to present a detailed plan, which would allow enough time to evaluate the plan before the next Town Meeting and decide whether to seek voter approval.

Select Board member Jane Covey said the group seeking to renovate the building should be required to present a plan not only for the renovation itself, but also for the facility’s future management and usage.

Meanwhile, she said, the Mitchell Field Committee should proceed with its own plans for what to do with the site if the building is torn down.

Select Board Chair Kevin Johnson seemed unmoved by the latest developments, reminding fellow board members of his longtime opposition to the renovation project.

“For 10 years, I’ve been in favor of tearing it down,” Johnson said. “It’s not an attractive building.”

Haible, the Mitchell Field Committee chair, also spoke during the meeting to express his group’s frustration over the slow pace of decision making as to the administration building’s ultimate fate.

“Having some amorphous organization — it’s not even an organization, just a group of people that say they want to renovate the building — that’s all well and good,” he said. “But who are they, what is their plan, and are they capable of raising the money if we wait another year?”

Haible added: “I think we’re just delaying ourselves into oblivion.”