By Rebecca Goldfine,Staff Writer

NORWAY – The next step for saving the Gingerbread House from demolition will be creating a report describing the possibilities that might be hiding within its crumbling walls, according to Norway resident Andrea Burns.

Burns, who is a trustee of the statewide organization Maine Preservation and active with local revitalization efforts, said that a meeting was held recently to discuss ways to preserve the house. “If people are more attracted to its architecture, it could be gutted and used as a different space, an office space,” Burns said in a telephone interview Wednesday.

But safety and practicality issues are on the minds of the new owners of the house, the Costello family, who purchased it last spring when they bought the Advertiser-Democrat from Howard James. The Costellos also own the Sun Journal.

“I am concerned it is a safety hazard, it’s in very poor condition. It is very close to our building, and I don’t want to see it pose a hazard to our production facility next door,” said Ed Snook, Advertiser-Democrat publisher.

“At the end of the day, you have to ask yourself how much money will it cost, and how willing are people to raise that money?” Snook said, adding, “I said they should have had this meeting 20 years ago.”

“We talked about trying to evaluate the extent of the damage. I think it’s pretty well shot,” he concluded.

Pulling down the house, once home to owners of the C.B. Cummings & Sons Mill, has pulled on some people’s heartstrings who protest against destroying buildings that hold part of Norway’s history. But others in town say the house has no architectural significance and is an eyesore that should be removed. Snook has said in the past that if funding were found to save the building, he would not tear it down.

“I think that Mr. Snook at least left the door open a crack,” Roy Gedat, board president of Norway Downtown Revitalization, said Wednesday.

Burns said Maine Preservation could provide seed money to help pay for a preservation architect or structural engineer who could assess the Gingerbread House and help with the report if there is enough local interest. But, she said, “I don’t know if this would hit the hearts of people, I just don’t know,” she said.