NORWAY — For 40 years, the Norway Opera House has been mostly quiet, but a nonprofit group hopes to fill the 130-year-old venue with music, theatrical productions and applause once again.

The Norway Opera House Corp., which has been working on the venue’s renovation for more than a decade, is currently awaiting more than $1.7 million in federal funding that would help it restore the opera house’s interior enough to put on some smaller performances and events with audiences of about 250 people, possibly in the next few years.

Built in 1894 on Main Street, the opera house hasn’t been used for entertainment or performances since the 1980s, when it housed a movie theater. Since then, it has sat mostly vacant, its interior wearing down because of neglect.

The money for the opera house was requested by Maine’s senators – Susan Collins and Angus King – in the 2024 Senate Transportation, Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill, which was passed by the Senate in November but still needs approval in the House. Collins, who is vice chairperson of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced last summer the money was part of a spending measure request that included more than $9.6 million for historic restoration projects across Maine.

The first-level shops of the Norway Opera House building were restored a decade ago, now the group restoring the building plans to renovate the performance space as well. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer

The nonprofit group’s goal is to raise about $2 million beyond the federal funds for box offices, equipment and other improvements that would allow full-scale concerts and productions with an audience of 500. As the most prominent building in Norway – with an impressive brick facade and a soaring clock tower – it is seen as a potential anchor of the Oxford County town’s growing arts and culture scene.

Matthew Delamater, president of the Norway Opera House Corp. and a professional actor, said he and his fellow board members were excited that Maine’s senators “saw the value in this.” Delamater, whose parents used to run a store in the first floor of the opera house building, thinks the revitalized venue can help bring more people to town and help businesses. He also sees it as a community gathering space and an inspiration to aspiring actors, artists and musicians.

“If it wasn’t for small stages in Western Maine, I wouldn’t be an actor today,” said Delamater, who grew up in Oxford and can be seen in the current season of the TV series “Julia” on Max. “To have a stage here for young people to see musicians and shows, to have a place for high school graduations and community gatherings, is what we’re hoping for.”

Board members Matt Delamater and Brenda Melhus on the balcony of the Norway Opera House. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer

The first-floor of the opera house building was renovated about a decade ago, and retail shops have opened there to help provide income to maintain the building. But over the years, most of the work on the performance space – stage, main floor, balcony – has been to stabilize the structure and keep it in tact while awaiting further renovation. Interior renovations would begin once the group can access the federal money, after the measure is approved, but how long that might be is unclear. The exact amount of federal money designated for the opera house projects is $1,788,000.

Right now the interior of the building looks tattered and worn, and the center of the seating area is filled with metal structures built to stabilize the building. But the promise of federal money and future fundraising has allowed the opera house’s supporters – which include the town, the nonprofit owner of the building and Norway Downtown – to envision a time when the interior is shiny and new and filled with seats. Architectural plans and renderings show such a possible future.

A rendering of what the restored Norway Opera House might look like. Image courtesy of  architect Jake Keeler 

In its early years, the opera hall – the performance space in the building – was used for all sorts of performances and town meetings and, for a while, housed town offices. But after the 1980s, it has mostly sat vacant and fallen into neglect.

In 2003, Maine Preservation listed the Norway Opera House building one of Maine’s Most Endangered Properties. The town eventually took over the building by eminent domain. In 2007, the Norway Opera House Corp. acquired the building and has been working to stabilize and renovate it since.

Because the opera house is an important part of the town’s downtown and potential economic growth, the nonprofit group Norway Downtown was the official applicant for the federal money earmarked for the opera house.

“The renovation of the Norway Opera House will be an economic driver for our downtown,” said Brenda Melhus, who is on the boards of both the opera house group and Norway Downtown. “When completed, it will bring an assortment of events, music, theater, conferences and economic development that we have yet to imagine. ”

For more information on the Norway Opera House restoration, go to norwayoperahouse.org.

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