As the Opera House at Boothbay Harbor's spring schedule approaches, the partial restoration of the iconic building on Townsend Avenue is nearing completion, according to Executive Director Cathy Sherrill.

The two-month project has involved repainting and replacing the clapboards on the north side of the building that abuts Union Street.

“All sides are in the same shape to some degree but the north side was the worst offender,” said Sherrill. “They stripped off all of the clapboards, shingles and trim down to the sheathing. This allowed them to see if there were any rot issues present — which there weren't.”

For the past few years, large swatches of paint have been peeling off at an alarming rate. The Opera House building committee pinpointed the problem on a moisture issue.

Nothing was done wrong the last time the opera house was painted, Building Committee member Eric Marden said in prior comments to the Register. The trapped moisture in the old boards caused the paint to peel, and it was time to bite the bullet, Marden said.

Given the Opera House's designation on the National Historic Register, any restoration has to be given careful consideration even if the changes appear to be purely cosmetic.

“Do you scrape and shave to get the wood down? What do you do,” Sherrill said.

The money for the restoration came from leftover funds earmarked for maintenance. As a rule, the organization does not borrow, and future repairs would be bankrolled directly through fund raising efforts, Sherrill said. Indeed, given the age of the Opera House, and despite a complete renovation effort in the early 2000's, problems do arise and can require an old-fashioned, whack-a mole-strategy when deciding when or what to fix.

“The building is in really good shape overall,” said Sherrill. “The goal is to have it look exactly like it did before.”

Bath-based Frohmiller Construction expects to have the project completed by May 1.