NORWAY — A new, $8.2 million medical office building may be open early next year on the banks of Pennesseewassee Stream in downtown Norway.

The architect and civil engineer for the proposed Western Maine Health building gave the Planning Board its first look Thursday night, saying they intend to have the facility open by January 2016, if all goes according to plan.

The site is the former C.B. Cummings & Sons wood mill on Pikes Hill Road.

“The site work is our big challenge,” said Craig Piper, principal architect for SMRT Architects and Engineering out of Portland. He, along with Leslie Gammon, director of plant operations for Stephens Memorial Hospital, and Tony Panciocco, a civil engineer with the SMRT group, presented preliminary plans for the project.

In August 2014, Western Maine Health, owners of Stephens Memorial Hospital, the adjacent Ripley Medical Building and other facilities, announced the construction of the medical office building as part of a $10 million project to meet increasing out-of-hospital care needs.

The proposed 25,000-square-foot office building will be built on a three-acre lot purchased by Western Maine Health about seven years ago.

Thursday night’s presentation was primarily to review the site work, but officials were given a preliminary look at what the building and landscaping might entail.

Panciocco told the board they have met with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection for a review of what permits will be necessary. They have also met with local officials such as Code Enforcement Officer Joelle Corey-Whitman and fire Chief Dennis Yates, who has requested a wider entryway to accommodate a firetruck and traffic in case of an emergency.

The one-story building is expected to be a combination of wood board and batten and traditional siding to incorporate some of the look of the old mill. There will be one entrance and exit across from Water Street, fencing along the stream and a canopy front entrance. A more detailed look at the building will be presented at the next Planning Board meeting, Piper said.

Some Planning Board members questioned the increased traffic from Main Street to Pikes Hill Road.

“It’s going to create a lot more traffic at that intersection, which isn’t the easiest,” Planning Board member Anita Hamilton said.

Project officials said they hope to return to the board on March 12 with a completed preliminary site plan review application. That will be followed by a public hearing tentatively set for March 20. If the board approves the application, ground could be broken in April.

Planning Board Chairman Dennis Gray said he was sitting out the process as a direct abutter to the project. Alternate member Conrad McAllister was given full voting privileges to act on the project.

ldixon@sunjournal.com

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