NORWAY – There may not be enough time to save the Opera House, according to one selectman at Wednesday night’s forum to address its future and those of other downtown buildings.

“By spring the whole problem could be solved,” said Selectman Bruce Cook, who is also on the board of Norway Downtown and the Norway Opera House Corp.

Following almost two hours of discussion among about 30 residents and officials, Cook said he believed the Opera House’s back wall would fall before efforts could be made to save it.

The structural integrity of the three-story Main Street landmark, which is owned by Barry Mazzaglia of Londonderry, N.H., was severely compromised on Sept. 21, 2007, when a partial roof collapse caused water to pour through the ceilings and walls of the 1894 masonry building. The damage forced two first-floor businesses to relocate. It has been vacant since and advertised for sale at $600,000.

Cook said the owner was approached by the corporation with an offer to buy the building using a $250,000 donation from Selectman Bill Damon and his wife.

“It was a wasted conversation. The guy won’t talk,” Cook said.

The sentiment was supported by Town Manager David Holt.

Holt said Mazzaglia has told him he does not have the money to address the rehabilitation needs of the building, although he did shore up the back wall.

Holt said he was “uncomfortable” with the condition of the back wall. “It’s not realistic to expect the work the owner did will have that building last very long,” he said.

Despite the grim news, residents and business owners agreed that one of the first tasks for the community will be to get an appraisal of the building, the cost to “button-up” the building for the winter and an analysis of what the town would do with the building should it acquire it.

“You really have a difficult situation in a very difficult time,” said Kay Rand, former chief of staff to Gov. Angus King, who acted as moderator for the session.

Residents and business owners agreed that the future of the building would determine the economic future of the downtown and that the Opera House is the centerpiece of the 74-building National Historic District.

“This issue is huge,” said Andrea Burns, president of Downtown Norway. “The building represents who we were, and where we will be. What will take their place?”

John Seilonen told the group he was for historic preservation but asked, “Who is going to pay for it?”

A number of ideas, including fundraising and working with private and nonprofit entities, were suggested.

In addition to the Opera House, the forum was set up to address the future of the Gingerbread House, also on Main Street.

The dilapidated 1855 Gingerbread House, owned by C’s Inc., a holding company for the newspaper company Sun Media, has been offered to the town with the provision that it be moved. A proposal from the town must be in place by Dec. 31 or the building will be demolished.

Despite interest from forum participants in saving the building for its historic value, Holt said any serious discussion about saving the building has been overshadowed by concern for the Opera House.

“I don’t know how the town could take it on,” he said of the house that sits on the north end of the district. “Even if we had it, we wouldn’t know what to do with it. There’s really not that much interest.” The Board of Selectmen will determine as soon as their Nov. 20 meeting which direction they wish to take with the buildings.