NORWAY — Town Manager David Holt said Thursday he hopes to hear shortly whether the town has been awarded a $150,000 grant that will be used to stabilize the Opera House.

“I’m was hoping to hear by the end of the week,” he said of the money that is being sought through the state’s Community Development Block Grant program. Under that programs’ public facilities historic preservation category, the maximum amount that can be applied for is $150,000, he said.

The program funds are used as part of a community development strategy leading to future private or public investments and include projects such as rehabilitation, acquisition and historic preservation.

Last month, special town meeting voters authorized selectmen to initiate steps necessary to take the historic downtown Opera House property in an eminent domain proceeding using $200,000 that has been donated by Selectman Bill Damon and his wife, Beatrice, of Norway.

The money will be used to pay the owner whatever a judge deems a reasonable price for the building, whether it be the $185,000 that the town has the building appraised or not. Building owner Barry Mazzaglia of Bitim Enterprise in Londonderry, N.H., who purchased the building in 2003, has appealed the action in Oxford Superior Court.

The project to take ownership of and stabilize the building has been budgeted at $414,588 including donations of $200,000 from the Damons and $50,000 from the Norway Opera House Corp. It also includes $185,000 for the acquisition of the land, which will come from the Damons’ money and $176,000 in construction work including the $150,000 if the grant is successful. The budget also includes another $26,000 from donated money toward the stabilization costs and $14,080 in engineering fees that have been paid largely by donated money, The town has picked up $10,000 of the approximately $17,000 in legal fees and all of the $3,500 in appraisal fees, according to the budget summary submitted with the grant application.

A portion of the Opera House roof collapsed on Sept. 21, 2007, severing a sprinkler pipe which flooded first-floor occupied spaces in the building and compromised the stability of the building. Since that time, officials have grown increasingly concerned about the stability of the building and lack of response from the owner who has turned down offers from the town to purchase the building several times.

Two engineering studies have deemed the structure to be “unsafe to the public and neighboring property” and officials have become convinced that the structure continues to deteriorate causing not only an imminent unsafe situation downtown but an unfavorable economic one.

If the grant application is successful, it will provide the town with up to $150,000 to stabilize the building. The town will also use $15,000 from the Damons’ money and another $50,000 from the Norway Opera House Corp. donation to stabilize the back wall of the building.

Once the project ensures the safety of the building and those around it, officials say they intend to turn the building over to someone else to continue renovations and hopefully revitalize the building.

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