A capital campaign is underway to preserve the history of the former Brunswick Naval Air Station with the development of the Brunswick Naval Museum and Memorial Gardens. Through the Wheels UP capital campaign, the museum will feature artifacts from the base’s seven decades of history.

The campaign is off to a promising start, said BNMMG founding director and President John B. Briley.

Three phases comprise the “Wheels UP” fundraising campaign. Phase 1’s $300,000 goal will improve the former chapel building, plus make ADA and other building code improvements. The chapel’s main sanctuary will be the museum exhibit hall.

Educational programming and the in-flight stimulator are Phase 2’s $250,000 focus.

Phase 3 will retire the building mortgage and establish free and clear ownership of the building. To do so requires raising $220,000.

Phase 1 should be completed this summer; Phase 2 and Phase 3 should be completed in 2018 and 2020, respectively.

The Brunswick Naval Air Station opened in 1943 in order to train members of the British Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm squadrons.

British military pilots trained during World War II to fly Corsair planes in the Pacific Theater.

During the post-WW II years of the Cold War, U.S. Navy pilots flew P-2 Neptune and P-3 Orion anti-submarine aircraft out of the base.

From World War II, Korea, Vietnam and beyond, the familial and occupational ties of those who worked and lived on base and in the Brunswick community ran deep.

The base closed in 2011 at the behest of the federal Base Closure and Realignment Commission recommendation in 2005.

Today, the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority continues its mission to transform the base and its Topsham annex for civilian use.

A brochure describes the chapel as “a most appropriate place where many prayers were offered by families for safe returns from flight missions. The gardens were established there in 1968 and were nurtured and cared for by the Harpswell Garden Club until 2012 when the reins were handed to BNMMG.”

A feature of the museum will be an interactive exhibit where museum visitors can use a wide-screen flight stimulator to fly the Corsair, the P-2 and the P-3. Briley.

Sean R. Liedman of the consulting firm Eagle Strategy notes note that the flight simulator is the in-house work of a BNMMG board member. A person can also “fly” a Blue Angels F-18 Hornet.

Exhibits will keep up with the latest military tech, including the Boeing P-8 Poseidon, drones and “integrated antisubmarine warfare.”

The museum is open to the public, from 10 a.m to 4 p.m. on Wednesday and 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturday. The Brunswick Naval Museum and Memorial Gardens is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization and contributions are income tax deductible within IRS guidelines.

To learn more about the naval museum, go to brunswicknavalmuseum.org.