BRUNSWICK

With deliberately flexible seating arrangements and departments arranged according to pedestrian traffic flow, town councilors Monday got a look at what the new town hall building’s interior floor plans could be.

Crews from Warren Construction could be working in the new space as soon as December. However, a construction budget has yet to be calculated. That will be finalized during the next several weeks, according to Town Manager Gary Brown.

Bowdoin College plans to vacate the McLellan Building, at 85 Union St., as soon as the second floor of Brunswick Station is ready for it to move in.

Meanwhile, Brunswick’s municipal government is planning to move into McLellan as soon as Bowdoin moves out.

The moving pieces, Brown said, mean that construction manager Peter Warren can reduce the renovation timeline by as much as six weeks and save the town as much as $15,000.

It would also limit to 25 the number of potential municipal meetings affected by the transition.

Meetings that ususally are televised — Town Council, School Board, Planning Board and Marine Resources among them — will have to find another location, preferably with broadcast capability, from early December until the end of January, Brown said.

“We should have access to the new council space, with the fast-track construction plan, by the end of January,” Brown said.

Additionally, the sooner the town can vacate its curernt home at 28 Federal St., the sooner the building’s eventual owner, Wiscasset nonprofit Coastal Enterprises Inc., can move in — and onto the town’s property tax rolls.

Drawings done by architect Scott Simon placed the municipal meeting space, local cable television studio, Finance and Tax Collection departments, as well as several conference and interview rooms on the ground floor.

Town clerk, codes and planning, assessing, economic development and the town manager’s office all would live upstairs.

Floor plans can be seen on the town’s website, www.brunswickme.org, on the Town Council’s page under minutes and agendas.

By a unanimous vote, councilors approved limited hunting on recreational land at the Kate Furbish Preserve, located at the southern end of what used to be the naval air station.

Monday’s vote was limited to allow restricted hunting; however, a future vote will decide what weaponry can be used, with the most likely allowances to be shotguns, black powder guns and bow hunting.

Also Monday, District 4 councilor John Perreault posed a constituent’s question regarding the status and accounting of the College Street reconstruction.

Brown said the project, due to be finished by Sept. 30, had run about a week long because of work stoppage requests by Bowdoin College. The school asked that work be halted during two weekends when it hosted football games.

He added that the project was finished “very close to being on budget,” although he promised to track down change orders and get back to Perreault during a future meeting.

jtleonard@timesrecord.com

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