A celebration broke out shortly after the Base Realignment and Closure Commission vote to keep the Portsmouth Navy Yard open.
NHPR correspondent Roger Wood was in front of the yard’s main gate and filed this report.
(We’re number one chant) :10
Hundreds of Portsmouth Navy yard workers marched out of the main gate shortly after the 7 to 1 vote to remove the facility from the Pentagon’s closure list.
They'd been given the news by a five minute blast of the Navy Yard’s familiar horn, used normally to signal a shift change.
(Jerry Lambert) : 03
“That was the final whistle that we knew that we were staying open.â€
Jerry Lambert of North Berwick Maine was relieved to hear the vote.
(Jerry 2) :08
“Awesome...now we know that we can stay here. We don’t have to move, find another job. We know we can stay here, have a career with our families.â€
Even before workers marched to Wallingford Square in Kittery, groups of supporters gathered for congratulatory hugs and handshakes. Kittery Town Council Chair Anne Grinnell recounted the commission’s vote with former shipyard commander Bill McDonough.
(Grinnell and McDonough) :15
“As soon as Principi started talking, did you know that that was going to..well, I having watched how it went, I felt pretty certain we would get the votes there, but when they threw their hands up, they didn’t throw them up high enough...I know, I was trying to count and it was, like oh, manâ€
As for McDonough, spokesperson for the main support group The Seacoast Shipyard Task Force, it was a tense time watching the brief debate on the yard’s future.
(McDonough) :16
“I was really fearful, we dodged a bullet. But, the reason is that it was clearly established by our presentations to the commission that the Secretary of the Defense and Secretary of the Navy had an objective that was not in the best interest of our country.â€
Notably missing from the celebration were members of the Maine Congressional Delegation and that State’s Governor.
Maine wasn't 100% spared from base closures.
The BRAC Commission did vote to shut down the Naval Air Base in New Brunswick.
Still, New Hampshire Governor John Lynch said that he telephoned John Baldacci.
(Lynch) :08
“I expressed my strong appreciation to Governor Baldacci for all he did for the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, and I know it has been a mixed day for him.â€
Lynch also called the occasion a “defining day for New Hampshire to be remembered forever.â€
(Lynch 2) :08
“We’ll remember where we were when the decision was announced...I certainly will. I’m relieved and very graftified and very excited for all of us in New Hampshire.â€
During a celebration, Lynch handed over to the head of the largest union there, the New Hampshire state flag that flew in Boston earlier in the summer during the BRAC regional hearing.
New Hampshire's Senior Senator Judd Gregg said he didn't know how the vote was going to turn out.
But he added that the Commission seemed to be focused on the issue of the Pentagon's capacity to build and repaid ships.
(Gregg) :19
“….And, I think we had an exceptionally strong argument on the issue of the number of drydocks, and the fact that when you take take the best workforce out of the system, you immediately aggravate the capacity issue, because it means its going to take longer to get submarines back into the fleet.â€
Gregg also said that the future workload for the Portsmouth Navy Yard is something that will have to be defended.
(Gregg 2) :22
“Yeah, I think our next issue is to repair the relationship with the Defense Department, make sure they appreciate the fact we went to the mat and were successful. But that we need to get back to the business of overhauling submarines, efficiently and effectively, and that means some of the rescheduled work that the Pentagon had already planned to reschedule needs to be brought back here, and we’ll be talking to them about that.â€
But for now, at least, the victory is sweet for those who fought a battle they believed has been the most difficult so far to justify the 205 year old Navy Yard’s existence.
(MOS) :08
“Thank you Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Community†(yelled)
For NHPR News, this is Roger Wood.
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