NORWAY — Selectmen voted unanimously Thursday to support taking the Opera House by eminent domain.

The vote had to be taken before Tuesday’s special town meeting to comply with the law, according to the town’s attorney. Now the issue goes before the voters.

“Taking it by eminent domain doesn’t guarantee the building will stay standing,” said Selectman Russ Newcomb of the 1894 historic building that a town engineer has said is unsafe to the public and neighboring property. “We may end up buying the building and paying to clean it up when it falls. I don’t know what the alternative is.”

About a dozen local officials and others applauded the board’s decision.

“I’d rather try and fail than not have tried,” said Andrea Burns, president of Norway Downtown, whose Board of Directors voted unanimously Thursday to support the town’s acquisition of the Opera House. She said the directors consider the three-story brick edifice a “signature building” in the state and an economic engine on the town’s Main Street.

The special town meeting will get under way at 7 p.m. Dec. 8 in the Forum at the Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School on Route 26 in Paris. Voters will act on a four-article warrant that will set the direction for the Board of Selectmen in trying to address the future of the 1894 Opera House in the heart of the downtown historic and business district.

Voters are being urged by the board to come out and voice their opinions.

“We as a board need to know how the citizens of Norway feel and then follow up,” Selectman Irene Millett said.

At the special town meeting, voters will be asked to authorize the board to initiate steps necessary to take the Opera House property in an eminent domain proceeding using $200,000 that has been donated by Bill and Beatrice Damon. The funds must also be accepted by voters.

In September, Patricia Amidon of the Amidon Appraisal Co. in Portland appraised the 17,618-square-foot building, which sits on about a quarter acre of land, at $185,000. The property includes a one-story and three-story building with a full basement and a tower containing an historic clock and bell.

Newcomb said he is also concerned that the money may not be enough if the owner, Barry Mazzaglia of Bitim Enterprises in Londonderry, N.H., appeals the taking and a judge decides he should be paid more for the building. The town would be obligated to pay the amount, Newcomb said.

The town recently offered Mazzaglia $190,000 for the property, but there was no response, said Selectmen Chairman Bruce. He said they offered him the appraised value plus $5,000 as “an incentive.”

“I don’t understand this man. I’d personally take the money and run,” Cook said.

Voters will also be asked to approve a Community Development Block Grant application for the state Public Facilities Grant program of up to $150,000 to be used to stabilize the building. The plan, Town Manager David Holt said, is to have the town stabilize the building by bracing the back wall, and then talk to interested parties, such as the Norway Maine Opera House Corp., which are interested in taking over the building and rehabilitating it.

“I just can’t see the town being in the Opera House business for longer than necessary,” Holt said.

A portion of the Opera House roof collapsed on Sept. 21, 2007, severing a sprinkler pipe which flooded first-floor businesses and compromised the stability of the building. Two engineering studies have deemed the structure to be “unsafe to the public and neighboring property” and officials are convinced that the structure continues to deteriorate causing not only an imminent unsafe situation downtown but an unfavorable economic one.

Residents at the board’s meeting said they want to see the town at least attempt to save the building.

“It’s a risk but if we save it, we’ll have something of more value than we can build in a lifetime,” Burns said.

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