NORWAY – The town has been awarded $500,000 for improvements to the C.B. Cummings & Sons mill property, Town Manager David Holt announced Friday.
The award comes in addition to a related $250,000 grant given to an arm of the Growth Council of Oxford Hills, Holt said. The money will be used primarily to prepare the site for redevelopment.
“Hopefully this will be another good, big step toward trying to do something positive there,” Holt said.
The awards, both Community Development Block Grants, have been announced just six weeks after a controversial meeting at which voters were asked to declare a portion of the mill area “slum and blighted.” The designation was intended to make Norway eligible for the block grant funds, but rubbed some residents the wrong way. The “slum and blighted” moniker was approved 19-13.
Brett Doney of the growth council has presented plans for an initial phase of the mill redevelopment. He said the money would cover improvements such as a new storm-water drainage system, a parking lot on Water Street, landscaping and some utilities.
It also may cover new signs and trees for the town’s historic district, and new signs at the entrances to Norway.
Doney could not be reached for comment Friday.
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