NORWAY — The walls of the town’s new “warming hut” at the outdoor skating rink on Cottage Street have been completed, moving the construction one step closer to completion.

“One of first steps we had to do is dig out the foundation,” said student Chris Calise, a sophomore student in the building trades program. Calise said while that job was fairly easy, one of the hardest parts of the project is to make sure everything is laid out correctly according to plan.

The new 24- by 30-foot building that will allow people to warm up while skating and other activities at the recreational fields is being constructed by students from the Oxford Hills Technical School building technology class this winter.

The hut, which is next to the outdoor skating rink, will include an open deck and a mud room with a bench and storage cubbies and windows. Currently, the rink has a small building to store about 100 pairs of skates and a few people, but most skaters simply go home when they get too cold.

Dan Daniels, who instructs the building trade classes with Scott McElravy, takes two classes of nine students each, to work at the Cottage Street site several times a week, depending on the academic schedule. The projects the classes undertake are generally yearlong projects.

Recreation Director Deb Partridge said the goal is to use the building during the next winter season of 2011-2012.

The project is being funded by a $15,000 donation from the New Balance Foundation and discounted building materials from the R. E. Lowell Lumber company of Buckfield.

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