NORWAY — Once again, the owner of the vacant Odd Fellows Hall on Main Street has been notified by town officials that broken windows need to be boarded up.

“We think it’s a pigeon trying to get out,” Code Enforcement Officer Joelle Corey-Whitman said.

Corey-Whitman said she has notified building owner Sam Patel of Jasmin LLC to repair the front, second-floor window. There are also broken windows on the side next to the Norway Opera House, she said.

In July 2013, Patel was notified by Corey-Whitman that the Board of Selectmen had given the go-ahead to bring Patel to court for creating a nuisance and danger because of broken windows. Glass has been falling on Main Street and in the alley next to the Opera House, creating an “unsafe and hazardous condition” for the public.

Patel repaired the windows several months after officials started asking him to.

Patel, a retailer in southern Maine, purchased the empty, three-story brick building at 380 Main St. from TD Bank. It was transferred to Patel’s company, Jasmin LLC, a limited liability company registered in Westbrook on Dec. 14, 2012.

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The basement and first floor were built in 1894 after fire destroyed much of the downtown business district. The other floors were added in 1910. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The third floor featured a high-ceiling ceremonial space for the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Norway Lodge No. 16, which originally owned the building. The second floor had a kitchen and large dining area, along with law offices and a courthouse. The first floor has traditionally been storefronts.

Local officials and others have been concerned about inactivity in the building. Patel has been unclear about his plans for the building.

ldixon@sunjournal.com


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