NORWAY — The Board of Selectmen unanimously voted Thursday night to place a lien on the Norway Opera House to recoup about $110,667 in non-construction costs.

The money will be recouped if the 1894 downtown edifice is sold. Norway Savings Bank will be first to be paid if the building is sold. However, next year it’s expected tax credits from the state will pay the bank an estimated $77,000 it is owed.

In June, selectmen discussed the $110,667 debt to the town by the Norway Opera House Corp. Dennis Gray, president of the corporation, told the board he felt the debt should be paid but making that happen would be difficult.

Holt suggested the town could place a lien on the property in case the building is sold, and the corporation and bank officials agreed to the plan.

It is not a tax lien, selectmen said. The taxes on the property are paid in full.

“It seems like a way to cover our bases,” Selectman Russ Newcomb said.

The lien could be removed by voters at a town meeting, Holt said.

Selectman Bruce Cook, who is also a director on the Norway Opera House Corp., said donations are still coming in for the second-floor ballroom restoration project.

Hundreds of people filled Town Square and lined Main Street and side streets in late August to listen to the reunion concert of Creation Completed, a 1960s high school band that used to play in Norway.

To date, more than $18,000 has been offered in donations from people across the country, many of whom grew up in Norway and remembered the building as a functioning civic and social center of activity.

A GoFundMe page was created at www.gofundme.com/norwayoperahouse, which has raised more than $12,000. Sale of balcony seats that will be inscribed at $200 per seat raised additional money.

Tax-exempt donations also can be made on the Norway Maine Opera House website, www.saveouroperahouse.org, or checks can be mailed directly to Norway Maine Opera House, P.O. Box 271, Norway, ME 04268.

The building’s first floor is rented out to businesses, Cook said. The second floor needs about $4 million to restore it.

The four-story brick building on Main Street is in the heart of the downtown National Historic District. 

In other action, the board voted unanimously to allow the former owner of a tax-acquired property to pay $800 toward the overdue bill. The owner agreed in writing to pay $100 a week until the $2,187 in taxes and sewer fees is up to date. The vote was necessary because the property had already been advertised to go out to bid the day before.

Board members said this will be the owner’s last chance.

“We’ll give it a try to see if he pays it off,” Newcomb said.

A second property off Cottage Street has been put out to bid as the town continues to whittle down a list of 22 tax-acquired properties.

The board accepted the resignation of Ingrid Small from the NPC-TV board where she serves as treasurer. It authorized Holt to advertise for a new member.

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