NORWAY – A $100,000 Community Development Block Grant is being sought to restore the facade of the historic Odd Fellows building on Norway’s Main Street to its original character.

EnterpriseMaine, also known as the Growth Council of Oxford Hills, bought the brick building last year for $60,000 from the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Lodge No. 16.

At their Oct. 16 meeting, Norway selectmen will consider whether to allow the CDBG grant to be submitted to the Department of Economic and Community Development. The Growth Council’s grant writer, Lori Allen, wrote the proposal. A rendering of what the facade would look like will be available by the end of this week, Growth Council Chief Executive Officer Brett Doney said Monday.

“We want it to be historically sensitive, to take it back to what it looked like at the turn of the century,” Doney said. He said the facade would “be very similar to the Opera House” next door.

The Growth Council plans to relocate to the second floor of the building from its present location at 166 Main St., Paris. To do so, extensive renovations will be needed, in the neighborhood of $750,000.

The Growth Council hopes to lease business space on the second floor, as well as have its offices.

The second-floor renovations will take a longer time than what’s needed on the ground floor commercial space, which was once the home to the Little Jungle pet store. The ground floor improvements, which will include installation of an elevator, will happen first, to make way for the relocation of the Maine Discoveries store, and to generate revenue from a second tenant that would split the space. Each business would have around 1,500 square feet of retail space.

The present facade on the Odd Fellows building is wooden, and not in keeping with its original character, Doney said. The first floor was constructed in 1894, and the upper two stories were added in 1911. The second floor used to house the district courthouse and law offices, while the third floor was reserved for members of the Odd Fellows.

Doney said there exists rental possibilities for the third floor as well, with its grand open high-ceilinged wall.

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