NORWAY – A new sign for the Lake Pennesseewassee picnic area is expected to be completed soon.

Norway Downtown President Andrea Burns told selectmen recently that the decision on what the sign will look like will be left up to selectmen’s Chairman Bill Damon and his wife, Beatrice.

“I offered to pay for the sign,” Damon said. He drives by the site three or four times a day. Damon was also responsible for a petition signed last year by more than 400 people in three days asking the state to turn over the site to the town.

In the spring of 2006, the state Department of Transportation notified selectmen that the scenic turnout would be one of nine in the region it would abandon. Plans called to turn it into what the state called a motor vehicle turnout. Picnic tables, a restroom, grills and shelter overhangs were threatened to be removed from the site under the state’s plan.

Following months of talks, the state and town officials came to an agreement that allowed the town to take over the site and keep the amenities. The state took down its sign at the end of the summer.

The new sign will say Town of Norway Picnic Area and will be either green lettering on a white background or brown on yellow and will cost about $500.

The sign will be made by McLaughlin Signs in Paris.