Critics said such a visit would be premature because the Base Realignment and Closure Commission has yet to make its final recommendations to President Bush.

"It’s one less issue to deal with," Paul O’Connor, president of the Metal Trades Council at the shipyard, told the Portsmouth Herald on Saturday. "It’s not like it’s a victory, just one less problem."

A policy adviser to Maine Gov. John Baldacci said his boss was "quite disappointed" when he heard of Arny’s planned visit, saying it was similar to having "the verdict issued before the trial is completed."

"(Arny’s) office said they understood the position of the governor’s office," Lance Boucher said.

In a joint statement, the Maine and New Hampshire congressional delegations said canceling the trip was appropriate.

Arny’s trip "would have presupposed the findings of the independent BRAC Commission, which continues to review information provided by the delegation and community groups that shows substantial deviation from the BRAC selection criteria," the statement said.

Other advocates said they were wary of the visit, even though the trip could have been a positive sign that the Navy is revisiting its figures.

"It’s either very late or extremely premature for someone to be doing that sort of analysis," said Dick Ingram, one of the chairmen of the Save Our Shipyard task force.

O’Connor said Arny’s visit was solely to put a value on the shipyard’s holdings.

"His function in this capacity would be that of a glorified real estate broker," O’Connor said. "If the commissioners keep us on the list, which I hope they don’t, come back after that."

Former shipyard commander Capt. Bill McDonough said he also thought it was positive that Arny would not visit.

"I’m very pleased he’s not coming because he was one of the key players in the team that made the recommendation to close us," McDonough said. "His visit would be to try and reinforce the position that it doesn’t cost much to clean up a place like us. But we’ve found many flaws to their (estimated) cost-type savings."

Portsmouth Herald Staff and wire reports

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