NORWAY – A proposed new master plan for downtown Norway includes the creation of a new town square across from the Norway Opera House.

Other ideas would create a traffic rotary at the intersection of Fair, Paris and Main streets, and a pedestrian bridge from Main Street to the former C.B. Cummings & Son dowel mill property.

About 30 people attended a dinner meeting Thursday to look over the sketches and ideas taking shape for a master plan to update the 1995 downtown strategy. The town has hired Craig Freshley of Brunswick, former coordinator of the Maine Downtown Center, and Gardiner planner Brian Kent, who prepared the 1995 plan, to do the update at a cost of about $12,000.

The current effort is an attempt to blend elements of the 1995 plan yet to be achieved while incorporating the results of a visit by a team of downtown experts last summer. Norway earned the technical help by the downtown experts by virtue of being named a Main Street Maine community by the Maine Development Foundation’s Maine Downtown Center program.

The updated Downtown Enhancement Strategy, being financed by $12,000 in town funds, will be submitted by August to selectmen, Freshley said.

The strategy emphasizes the need for the downtown to continue to serve the needs of local residents while also marketing its attractions to visitors.

Those attending Thursday’s meeting agreed there should be a balance between the two target markets, Freshley said. At the same time, redevelopment of the dowel mill, now owned by Western Maine Development, should include a strong focus on folk arts and crafts, traditional wood products, the arts and culture.

Designs for the footbridge that would link the mill to Main Street ranged from a simple bridge across Pennesseewassee Stream to a mall bridge through the Opera House to an alley bridge leading directly into a renovated mill building.

“We had fun talking about the pros and cons,” Freshley said.

The same could be said of proposals to create a town square. In one strategy, a town square would be created behind the Opera House. In another, the square would be created in a private parking lot beside the 100 Aker Wood art supply store.

In the latter scenario, sidewalks on either side would be extended into Main Street and special paving would be installed to “calm” traffic, Freshley said. He said most of those attending Thursday’s meeting did not see lack of parking as being a big problem in the future.

To get opinions of summer people, Freshley said Norway Downtown Revitalization, leaders of the Main Street Maine effort, are hiring college students to survey shoppers along Main Street.

“We really do want to capture the summer crowd,” Freshley said.

He encourages anyone who did not attend Thursday’s meeting and who want their voice to be heard to contact him at 729-5607.

“We’re about halfway through the whole process,” pointing out that the team has met with selectmen and town staff, as well as those active in Norway Downtown Revitalization.

“If anyone didn’t attend (the hearing), we’d certainly like to hear what they have to say.”