NORWAY — Construction and renovation work at the PAWSibilities Thrift Shoppe at 132 Waterford Road is underway.

Last year, the Planning Board unanimously approved a building permit for Responsible Pet Care to renovate a portion of its thrift shop and add a restroom. The request was made after the group moved its animal shelter to 9 Swallow Road in Paris.

The permit also allows the group to remove the flat roof section of the building and the tower after the restroom is put in.

Shirley Boyce, president of Responsible Pet Care, said the group hopes to remove the tower and the flat rooftop at a later date, probably this summer.

The tower once graced the C.A. Stephens laboratory by Lake Pennesseewassee in Norway. Charles A. Stephens, a noted author of young adult and children’s books, medical doctor and scientist, built his large, rambling laboratory as part of his home and used it to study ways to extend human life.

The tower was first purchased by Lyndon Philbrook, who put it on top of a filling station on the Waterford Road. When that building was torn down, the tower was moved to the house now occupied by PAWSibilities, according to information from Norway Historical Society curator Charles Longley.

Boyce said she hopes the tower can be moved elsewhere.

“I expect that the interested people will find a place for it at that time so that it can be saved,” she said.

Responsible Pet Care is a no-kill, nonprofit shelter and adoption center for cats and dogs. It was established in 1997 by a small group of people in the Oxford Hills community.

The group pooled their money and purchased both neglected buildings on Waterford Road by Lake Pennesseewassee. One was repaired and put into use as a shelter until last year. The other building is the thrift shop, which is one of the moneymakers for the animal shelter.

Donations may be mailed to Responsible Pet Care, P.O. Box 82, Norway, ME 04268. For more information, call 207-743-8679.

ldixon@sunjournal.com