PARIS – The town has been granted a temporary restraining order to force the owner of the damaged Opera House on Main Street to stabilize it.

Oxford County Superior Court Judge John Nivison granted the order Wednesday afternoon but has asked the town’s attorney to write the specific conditions and file it with the court.

The order is immediate said attorney James Belleau of the Auburn firm of Skelton, Taintor and Abbott, who represents the town.

Belleau said the order, which he expects to submit to the court Thursday or Friday, will specify that Barry Mazzaglia of Bitim Enterprises in Londonderry, N.H., immediately take steps to secure the three-story brick building and make the necessary repairs to ensure its stability.

The town’s request for the order and preliminary injunction was filed Feb. 2 as a quick remedy to ensure the safety of the public from the vacant 1894 downtown. Scheduling problems have delayed the hearing.

The motion for the preliminary injunction, which will essentially have the same effect as the temporary restraining order, is expected to be heard in August, according to court Clerk Donna Howe.

A portion of the Opera House sagging roof collapsed on Sept. 21, 2007, severing a sprinkler pipe and flooding first-floor businesses. It also compromised the stability of the building. Since then, officials have grown increasingly concerned about the stability of the landmark and seemingly limited response from the owner. Two engineering studies have deemed the structure to be “unsafe to the public and neighboring property.”

Mazzaglia did not appear in court Wednesday and could not be reached for comment.

The judge has also issued an order to show cause, which will make Mazzaglia submit evidence that he is a New Hampshire corporation with less than five shareholders. If he can show that evidence, the court will allow Mazzaglia to represent himself in the case, Howe said. If not, he will need to have legal representation, she said.

The Opera House is considered the anchor to the town’s downtown National Historic District with its first floor storefronts and theater with a balcony on the second floor and distinctive bell tower which houses an E. Howard clock. The second floor, known as the Grand Ballroom, has been the central gathering place for everything from National Guard musters to high school graduations, concerts and theater groups.