BRUNSWICK — An iconic P-2 Neptune naval aircraft has watched over Admiral Fitch Avenue on the former Brunswick Naval Air Station for more than 50 years after retiring from action. With the help of some dedicated volunteers and donors, it’s now been restored to its former glory.

Sailors, family members and supporters came from near and far last Friday morning to unveil the newly painted and refurbished plane, which dates back to the Cold War. The restoration, led by the Brunswick Naval Aviation Museum, took roughly $60,000 and four years.

“This plane will be here for years to come,” retired Navy Master Chief Mark Nowak, of Topsham, told the crowd Friday. “It will showcase Brunswick Landing; it will remind everyone of the sacrifice and the dedication of the men, the women and the families who have served on the former Brunswick Naval Air Station.”

Nowak, who served in Brunswick during his 30-year career and flew in P-3 aircrafts, led the fundraising and restoration effort.

“We had some hefty donors, but it’s the little people that made it all come together,” Nowak said in an interview.

After the fundraising came the work. Holes were patched, new decals made, a fence built and a fresh coat of paint was applied with the help of Moore Painting and other corporate sponsors.

“[The P-2 had] been exposed to the elements for 55 years now … and, frankly, had fallen into a state of disrepair,” said retired Navy Capt. Sean Liedman, the Brunswick Naval Aviation Museum president. “We had some dedicated volunteers who just essentially took the bull by the horns and just started fundraising.”‘

And now?

“It looks like it just rolled off the assembly line,” Liedman said.

At a short ceremony Friday, Liedman and Nowak gave remarks along with Brunswick Town Manager Julia Henze and Dan Stevenson, the executive director of the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority, which oversees Brunswick Landing.

“Naval Air Station Brunswick brought sailors and their families to our town and really made Brunswick what it is today,” Henze said. “We are so proud that so many of the sailors who formed connections here chose to come back after they completed their service or stayed in some cases.”

Dozens set up lawn chairs and leaned along the fence, taking in the shiny, white-and-gray aircraft and posing for photos with former shipmates.

Friday’s event was akin to a “mini-reunion,” Nowak said.

“I saw people I haven’t seen in years; my former skipper was here,” he said.

Brunswick Naval Air Station was commissioned during World War II and officially closed in 2011. Now known as Brunswick Landing, the former base is home to residences, businesses, the Brunswick Executive Airport and the Brunswick Naval Aviation Museum.

The museum maintains the P-2 and a P-3 Orion, both anti-submarine planes that patrolled the Atlantic Ocean during the Cold War era.