NORWAY — Two organizations have proposed new uses for the former Streaked Mountain School on lower Main Street, according to Town Manager Dennis Lajoie.

Lajoie told the Select Board on Thursday night the proposals include using the former schoolhouse for business space or for church services, programs and activities.

Mia Purcell, vice president of economic development and impact for Community Concepts Finance Corp., a South Paris-based economic development corporation, proposed turning the schoolhouse into “co-working space.”

Purcell said such an approach would provide shared, membership-based space to people who need space to work. Members typically rent a desk or an office.

Purcell said the former school could accommodate 10 to 12 members.

“It’s something that’s relatively new,” Purcell said. “We’re proposing that 160 Main St. be reused as a co-working space, which would allow for business startups, freelancers and others who need a flexible work space to have a place where they can come and work at flexible hours.

“These places particularly appeal to people who work from home and may feel isolated. In Bethel, there’s at least one person who’s a realtor who travels in and out of the area who uses a desk.”

Purcell said Community Concepts Finance would make renovations to the space, including carpet, painting the inside walls and installing high-speed internet service.

In addition to desks, the space would also include a conference table that could be rented for $25 for up to two hours.

The other proposal came from Bridge of Hope Pentecostal Church, a nonprofit organization based in South Paris.

Representatives of Bridge of Hope were not at Thursday night’s meeting, but, according to a proposal submitted to the town, Bridge of Hope would use the space for Sunday services and weekly church programs and activities. The church would take on the water, sewer, electricity and heating costs, and would make improvements to the building’s interior.

In an April 25 proposal submitted to selectmen and Lajoie, Purcell wrote “CCFC is requesting that the Town of Norway consider a $1 lease for a year with an option of three additional years to test and build demand for a co-working space in the Oxford Hills.”

Purcell said Thursday she knows of no co-working space in Oxford Hills. The closest, she said, are at The Gem Theater in Bethel and Munka Coworking on Lisbon Street in Lewiston.

Purcell acknowledged the project would be a gamble, saying she was not sure it will pan out.

“We’re not 100% sure what the demand is going to be,” she said. “So that’s kind of an adventure on our part, setting out, testing the waters.”

Selectmen made no decision Thursday night on the future of the former school. Lajoie said he plans to contact Bridge of Hope to encourage its representatives to attend the next Select Board meeting to discuss their proposal.

The former Streaked Mountain School was 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.