NORWAY – The town has won a community spirit award from Maine Downtown Center for its economic development efforts.

The award will be presented during the ninth annual Maine Downtown conference June 5 in Rockland.

Terry Ann Stevens, co-chairman of the organization, said Norway’s public forums on its threatened downtown buildings were the reason for the award. The three well-attended community sessions last year brought in experts in the field of preservation to talk about the town’s historic properties and ways they could be saved.

The award recognizes an “out-of-the-box” creative downtown revitalization project that exemplifies a creative approach or solution, or utilizes the downtown to promote some greater good, according to the selection criteria.

The application was submitted by Norway Downtown President Andrea Burns.

Stevens said Norway also won an award for business retention, expansion or recruitment. The award recognizes an outstanding example by a downtown revitalization organization to retain, expand, and/or recruit new businesses to downtown, according to the selection criteria.

The Augusta-based Maine Downtown Center is a program of the Maine Development Foundation devoted to fostering new vitality in Maine’s community downtown centers.

Its mission is to foster downtown development that is dynamic and community-based and results in economic development, business growth, job creation, housing revitalization, historic preservation and cultural enhancement, according to its Web site.

Norway also won for most outstanding imaginative community campaign for the community calendar by Duncan Slade, Stevens said. The award recognizes image advertising, including cooperative retail advertising that promotes the district’s unique qualities, print materials that reinforce a graphic visual image or media relations that put a positive spin on downtown activities, according to the application.

Norway is considered one of nine Main Street Maine Communities because of its willingness and ability to revitalize its downtowns, according to the Maine Development Foundation’s Web site. Others include Waterville, Eastport and Bath.

The communities enter into a partnership with Maine Downtown Centers for three years and receive thousands of dollars worth of training and technical assistance for downtown revitalization efforts.