Community members and volunteers are invited to join the Fort Preble Preservation Committee on Saturday, Oct. 19, from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. to assist in the annual Fall Clean-up Day and Open Fort Tour. The workday will be held at the 205-year-old fort on the Southern Maine Community College South Portland Campus.

A group of faculty, staff, students and concerned local residents will gather for the annual Spring Cleanup Day, making small repairs and cleaning the grounds. In the past, the group has removed invasive plants, scraped and painted iron works, and cleaned out some of the underground and above-ground fortifications.

As a bonus to all those who take part, the preservation committee will open up some of the underground rooms and conduct a tour during the workday. This is a chance for history buffs to take an active role in the preservation of a military site that was active as early as King George’s War and continued in service until the Fort was decommissioned after World War II.

Fort Preble was built in 1808, periodically modernized, and manned until 1950, when it became Southern Maine Community College. Confederate sailors were imprisoned here after an unsuccessful raid on the harbor in 1863. The college today uses several of the former fort’s beautiful and historic buildings on campus and works in partnership with the preservation committee to maintain the bunkers and other features.

Volunteers will meet in the parking lot between the Transportation Building at 123 McKernan Dr. and Bunker Lane at 10 a.m. For a campus map please visit www.smccME.edu/SouthPortland. Wear appropriate shoes and clothing and bring work gloves and hand tools if possible.