NORWAY — Members of the Norway Maine Opera House Corp. unanimously passed a resolution Monday afternoon to help the town save the Opera House, should voters at the special town meeting agree that’s what they want to do.

“We’re prepared to be involved with the town in saving the Opera House,” said corporation president Dennis Gray after the hour-long meeting of the six corporation members adjourned shortly before 6 p.m. “Ultimately, if voters want to transfer (the building,) we would be prepared to accept it.”

The future of the historic 1894 Opera House rests in the hands of voters, who will decide Tuesday evening whether the town should take the property by eminent domain. The vote will determine if the Board of Selectmen is authorized to initiate steps necessary to take the Opera House by eminent domain, and to accept a $200,000 donation from Bill and Beatrice Damon to help stabilize the building.

The vote also seeks approval for a Community Development Block grant
application for up to $150,000. Town Manager David Holt said the grant
would be used to stabilize the building.

The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 8, in the Forum at the Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School on Route 26 in Paris.

The 17,618 square-foot building, which sits on about a quarter-acre, has been appraised at $185,000 by Patricia Amidon of Amidon Appraisal Co. in Portland. It includes a full basement and a four-story clock tower containing a historic clock and bell.

Gray said the non-profit corporation also passed a second resolution that members take the necessary steps to ensure there is liability insurance for the building and corporation members should they take ownership of the building. Long-range plans for the building have not been formulated yet, he said.

The Norway Maine Opera House Corp., a nonprofit organization, attempted to buy the Opera House in 2003 when it was outbid by Barry Mazzaglia, of Bitim Enterprises, in Londonderry, N.H. Mazzaglia is the current owner of the building. Town officials say he has failed to abide by a court order mandating that he stabilize the building and also failed to acknowledge the town’s request to purchase the building for $190,000.

Selectman Chairman Bruce Cook , also a member of the corporation, said Monday he has heard from people both for and against the town taking the building. “It’s too close to call,” he said of the impending vote.

Town officials have warned that regardless of whether the town agrees to take the building or not, it still poses a significant threat to public safety as long as it remains unstable.

The partial collapse of the building’s roof on Sept. 21, 2007, severed
a sprinkler pipe which flooded first-floor occupied spaces in the
building and compromised its stability.

Two engineering studies from as early as Oct. 1, 2007, have stated that the building could collapse if the back wall is not stabilized.

Town officials have conceded that there is a risk no matter what action voters take on a number of issues. They include the price a judge will set for the town to pay for the property, how much it will cost to stabilize the building, what will happen if the town doesn’t take it and the owner does nothing, and how much it will cost to tear down the property, should that action be necessary.

Holt said Monday that the Damons have not offered to use the $200,000 for demolition of the building, but selectmen have said they do not intend to use taxpayer money for any of the work.

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The Norway Downtown Board of Directors has endorsed the distribution of a flyer around town that asks voters to save the Opera House. The organization says saving the building would enhance the downtown economic situation and retain the building that is considered the heart of the town’s historic downtown business district.