The Growth Council of Oxford Hills backs out of the $2 million development

NORWAY – Directors of the Growth Council of Oxford Hills have decided to abandon the four-year project to rehabilitate the former Odd Fellows hall at 201 Main St.

This decision elicited a flurry of frustrated comments by selectmen when they were told Thursday night at their regular meeting.

“I am extremely disappointed the Growth Council dropped this,” Selectman Les Flanders said. “I firmly believe that building can be put back together.”

He added, “We owe the townspeople to get that building to where it’s inhabitable again.”

Located in the Downtown Historic District next to the Opera House, it was built in 1894 with stories added in 1911. The first floor was home to The Little Jungle Pet Store. The second floor used to house the district courthouse and law offices, while the third floor was reserved for members of the Odd Fellows.

The Growth Council bought the building in 2002 for $68,000 to fix up, attract tenants and give the downtown a boost. The vacant brick building lends a stark air to Main Street with its empty windows and uncertain future.

But by dropping the project, the council is risking taxing the patience of residents of Oxford Hills who have said at past town meetings that too many of the council’s promises are never kept.

Council President Brett Doney, who last week announced his resignation to take a similar position in Montana, said by phone Thursday night that the council’s Board of Directors made its decision because it didn’t believe it could finance the entire project, which likely would have cost well beyond $2 million.

Moreover, the building does not fit the council’s redefined focus on projects it considers important to the wider region, he said.

Doney said the council will sell the building with the intention of recouping its $215,000 investment.

“We’re hopeful we’re going to attract a developer,” Doney said. “We’re going to continue working with the town and developers to see if the building can be developed.”

He said already four developers have expressed an interest, two local ones and two from out of town.

The Growth Council has invested $135,000 in the building, as well as spent $80,000 of a $500,000 loan from the Municipal Investment Trust Fund it received in 2003.

The council board has opted to give the remainder of the MITF loan back to the town. But selectmen Thursday night did not decide what to do with this grant, which requires an equal match.

Norway Town Manager David Holt said Thursday night that he considers the building, which has been gutted, to be in worse shape now after the first phases of the rehabilitation project.

He also accused the Growth Council of not being more communicative with the town about the slim chances for this project to succeed.

“I don’t fault Brett for his effort and what he was trying to do,” Holt said. “What I fault the Growth Council for is the very, very poor communication in this venture.”

Doney said all the completed work, including exposing exterior walls for structural repair, removing old electrical wiring, exposing the floor to the brick, getting rid of wall siding that had absorbed odors from the former pet store, had to be done.

He also said he told town officials in April that the council’s new strategic plan emphasized regional, rather than local, projects.

“We said our intent was to see the projects completed, but we did not know if we would do the projects ourselves,” he said.

In April, Doney presented Norway selectmen with project plans for the building, promising that work that had been stalled during winter would begin by the middle of April. In May, he informed them that the project would be delayed because of plans for acquiring federal funding.

Selectman Robert Walker said at the meeting, “A lot of us believed in this project and it’s a big disappointment.”

“The Growth Council has shown a willingness to take risks,” Doney said. “Sometimes you’re successful, sometimes you’re not. I hope the community will continue to support the Growth Council and all the things we’re able to do. Sometimes with the best intentions, things don’t come together.”