Gorham’s Historic Preservation Committee is reaching out to the public this week about whether the town should have an ordinance aimed at preserving historic buildings in the 279-year-old community.

The committee formed last year with Town Councilor Bruce Roullard as committee chairman.

“This will be our first opportunity to hear from the public on historic preservation and what our committee has been focusing on over the past several months,” Roullard said recently.

The public hearing is set for 6 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 12, in the Town Council chambers at Gorham Municipal Center, 75 South St.

Committee member Noah Miner, of Green Street, said Tuesday the overall mission of the committee is to promote historic preservation. Miner said the ultimate goal is whether to recommend an ordinance to the Town Council. Miner said there’s no language yet for any ordinance.

Committee member Marla Stelk, of Johnson Road, pointed out that many of the town’s landmarks on Main Street were lost through the years to make way for gas stations. Stelk said some landmarks in town are falling apart and that the committee could help homeowners find creative ways to fund repairs.

“We’re really at the beginning of this whole process,” Stelk said.

Miner said the committee has reviewed historic ordinances in other Southern Maine communities. Deborah Andrews, historic preservation program manager for the city of Portland, has met with Gorham’s committee.

Thursday’s public hearing will be an opportunity for Gorham residents to weigh in.

“I would hope that we may have a recommendation to the council by late summer or early fall,” Roullard said.

The committee also is in the process of compiling an inventory of Gorham buildings that have historical or cultural significance, Miner said.

Roullard said existing inventories include those of Gorham Historical Society, Greater Portland Landmarks, and the National Register of Historic Places.

“We are in the process of compiling a master database of historic properties and will be speaking more about this on Thursday,” Roullard said.

Miner said Gorham has four historic districts. They are the Great Falls Historic District, Gorham Campus Historic District, Gorham Historic District along College Avenue and School Street, and the South Street Historic District.

Roullard last summer participated in meetings with state preservationists and University of Southern Maine representatives in the brouhaha that developed when the clapboard siding and vintage windows were stripped during the university’s renovation of its art gallery on the Gorham campus.

The art gallery building that dates to 1821 is listed on the National register of Historic Places by the U.S. Department of Interior.

Preservationists persuaded university officials to scrap vinyl siding plans and to restore the building’s exterior in keeping with its historical character.

Gorham’s Historic Preservation Committee is weighing whether it should recommend an ordinance aimed at preserving landmarks in the town founded in 1736. Gorham’s many landmarks include the town-owned Baxter Museum in the South Street Historic District and, on the right, the privately owned Reuben Nason home built about 1790. Nason was the first principal at Gorham Academy in 1806.