At a Board of Selectmen meeting on September 5, Norway Town Manager Dennis Lajoie, right, and Selectmen, from left to right, Russell Newcomb, Warren Sessions, Mike Twitchell, Ryan Lorrain, and Chairman Tom Curtis unanimously approved leasing the Yellow School House to a Harrison based charity for $1 a year. Jon Bolduc/Sun Journal
NORWAY—Norway’s Yellow School House is one step closer to finding an occupant.
At a Norway Board of Selectmen meeting September 5, selectmen unanimously approved leasing the former schoolhouse at 160 Main St. to The Table, a charity based at the Bolsters Mills United Methodist Church in Harrison, for $1 per year.
The Table currently uses the Norway Grange for larger activities like a clothing giveaway and Saturday breakfasts. The group would use the space at the historic schoolhouse for smaller events, like Alcoholics Anonymous and Alanon meetings, as well as classes and after-school sessions to help students, according to spokeswoman Anna-Jean Alexander.
According to the proposal submitted to the Town of Norway, the Table plans, with the assistance of grants, to restore the building, and “maintain the historic character of the schoolhouse while making needed improvements to the interior.”
According to the lease approved by the Selectboard on September 5, the Table “must keep the building painted yellow unless the Selectboard votes to allow a different color.”
According to previous reporting, built-in 1854, the Yellow School House was used as a public school until 2008. The following year, the school district used it for Streaked Mountain School’s alternative education program. Last fall, students moved to the former Verizon office in the strip mall across from Oxford Comprehensive High School in Paris.
The charity must get Planning Board approval.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
