The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. Feb. 18 in the town hall at 19 Danforth St.

Earlier this month, selectmen agreed to hold a special town meeting to get voter approval to have the .31 parcel transferred to the Norway Landmarks Preservation Society, a nonprofit group created by the Friends of the Gingerbread House as a fundraising agent.

The society, which will be doing business as the Friends of the Gingerbread House, has $108,200 for the proposed move this spring and stabilization of the house. It is behind the offices of the Sun Journal and Advertiser Democrat at the corner of Pikes Hill and Main Street and is proposed to be moved to a site next to the Pennesseewassee Dam on Main Street.

Pat Shearman, chairman of the Friends of the Gingerbread House Task Force, said the group also has a commitment of a $20,000 award from the Davis Family Foundation if members can raise $150,000 within two years.

In order to make the move successful, town meeting voters must agree to donate a piece of town land at 500 Main St. and to authorize the selectmen to accept part of the state road right of way, to relocate the Gingerbread House.

Shearman told selectmen recently that the group intends to return the land to the town if the move is unsuccessful.

The Gingerbread House is owned by C’s Inc., which is a real estate holding company affiliated with Sun Media Group, publishers of the Sun Journal and Advertiser-Democrat. The owners agreed last year to delay demolition of the historic home if the grassroots organization of volunteers could successfully figure out a way to move the massive house off site.

Members of the task force staked the new site for the Gingerbread House in December using nearby land from Maine Department of Transportation, the town of Norway and the building owner.

Originally known as the Evans-Cummings House, the three-story building, with its octagonal tower, has graced the entrance to Norway from the north since 1851. Its builder was Richard Evans, who was considered an important contractor who also built the Nash house on Pleasant Street and the passenger railroad station at South Paris. The 80- by 20-foot house is on the National Register of Historic Places.

If the committee is successful, long-range plans will be determined but members have already agreed the building must be self supporting.

Voters will also be asked to approve a Community Development Block grant application for the special projects matching grant program for $120,000 and to submit the application to the Department of Economic and Community development.

The move is being made to assist the Progress Center in its endeavor to build a community kitchen. The town will act as the nonprofit funding agent for the center.

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