Brunswick now owns the former U.S. Navy fitness center and field house on Neptune Drive.

Soon to be the new home of the Brunswick Parks and Recreation Department, the town had been waiting for the keys to Building 211 for about a year before receiving final ownership transfer Friday.

No transition date yet has been set, according to Town Manager Gary Brown, because some environmental remediation remains to be done, as well as improvements to fit the town’s needs.

Tom Farrell, the director of Parks and Recreation, and his staff are organizing the eastern relocation effort.

Closed and out of use for several years, the Neptune Drive building is larger and in better repair than the soonto be-closed recreation offices at 30 Federal St., town officials have said. The Federal Street building no longer meets code and requires an annual waiver from the town’s fire department to be used.

Councilors in May approved the sale of 30 Federal St. to the Brunswick Development Corporation for “not less than $200,000,” but have yet to sign purchase-and-sale agreement with the local nonprofit development group.

Proceeds from the sale were earmarked to fill a gap in the school budget for fiscal year 2014.

Brunswick Development Corporation was formed 18 years ago to help catalyze business growth in town. Comprised of local business owners or civic leaders, it has acted as the town’s erstwhile banker in the past, purchasing property for the town when municipal funds have been unavailable.

Two years ago, BDC negotiated for and purchased property at the corner of Stanwood and Pleasant streets, where the town currently is building its new police station. As a condition of that agreement, the town will turn over the existing municipal building at 28 Federal St. to BDC for sale or redevelopment after relocating to the “new” McLellan Building town hall late next year.

Also according to the land trade’s terms, the town in 2012 rezoned several blocks of Federal Street to allow for continued use of the building as office space.

BDC will negotiate sale of the quonset-style recreation building to Wiscasset-based nonprofit Coastal Enterprises Inc., which has said that it intends to raze the structure and build a new headquarters in its place.

Earlier this year, CEI offered to buy both properties but was rebuffed because, logistically, the timing wouldn’t have worked for the town.

Over at Building 211, the grass is tall and uncut and the topiaries are in need of care. There is broken concrete at several of the entrances and exits, and weeds protrude through cracked sealant in the parking lot.

Additionally, the lot and adjacent acreage still need analysis and some cleanup, according to the Restoration Advisory Board, a local committee in charge of monitoring the U.S. Navy’s efforts to rectify more than 60 years of environmental damage done by the military. jtleonard@timesrecord.com