NORWAY — Lesley Dean doesn’t know what the future may be for the 130-year-old L.F. Pike & Son store on Main Street, but she’s not willing to let it go easily.

“We’re hoping we can resuscitate the dead,” Dean said, looking around the once-bustling store that served the clothing needs of boys and men in western Maine and beyond since the mid-1880s.

The roof buckled under the weight of snow around March 28, flattening the peaked metal roof that was constructed above the flat original roof. The metal roof was installed about 10 years ago to stop leaks. 

Known as The Blue Store, the building is part of the Norway Downtown National Historic District and one of the few buildings that survived the Great Fire of 1894 that wiped out a large section of the downtown business district. It features a high false front for signage and was built in several sections.

It closed in 2011.

The store is one of 70 historic buildings that now come under the protection of a demolition-delay ordinance that was unanimously approved at Monday’s annual town meeting.

The ordinance was requested by Norway Downtown, which has a long-term goal to protect as much of the historic downtown as possible.

The ordinance allows a careful consideration — but not a denial — of the demolition of any historic building in the district. While the Norway Opera House and the Gingerbread House, both demolition possibilities a few years ago, are undergoing successful renovations and revitalization, that is not always the case.

Other National Historic District properties, such as the Odd Fellows Hall that has been vacant for years, and the L.F. Pike & Son store, could be razed in the future. If the owner chose to raze either building, it would come under the demolition-delay ordinance.

The ordinance would not prevent the demolition, but it could delay it long enough to allow for some other possibility or at the least an opportunity to document the building’s historic value.

Dean, whose father, Art Gouin, owned the store from 1980-2003, and her family are trying desperately to save the building, but financial and health problems are an obstacle. Merchandise is being removed to another site, and in July she hopes to have a giant yard sale to recoup some of the losses. She is also soliciting needed services, ideas or contributions from a large group of people, usually online.

This week the peak roof is being removed and more damage becomes evident. Dean is hoping that predicted rain holds off because the large blue tarp that has covered the building since late March has been removed.

The Maine Historic Preservation Commission has said demolition-delay ordinance can be a very effective tool in helping to protect historically significant resources in the community. While a demolition delay ordinance or bylaw cannot prevent demolitions indefinitely, delaying the demolition of a significant resource can often have a positive outcome.

“I don’t know that Pike’s store is going to make it, but I learned it is one of the oldest on the street,” Holt told about 60 voters at Monday’s town meeting. “The future of Norway is somewhat dependent on the history of the town. Seventy buildings, taken together, they make an important presence for the town. They symbolize a way of life that won’t happen again.”

ldixon@sunjournal.com

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