LEWISTON – Flood lamps illuminating the spires of Saints Peter and Paul Basilica will be turned back on next week, once crews finish installing a new heating-oil tank in the church.
The lamps were shut off in September, but few people have noticed, said Business Manager Gil LaPointe. Some were afraid the recent energy prices prompted church leaders to turn them off.
“Mostly, we’ve had people calling to let us know they were off,” he said.
Crews are installing an upgraded 4,000-gallon heating oil tank, replacing a much older 10,000-gallon tank.
“There was a wall at the back that held some electrical conduit, and that had to be removed so they could move the tank in,” LaPointe said. That conduit powered the lights.
The lights have made the spires a dominant nighttime feature of Lewiston-Auburn since 2003. Central Maine Power Co. donated temporary lights in 2001 for the holiday season but it took volunteers two years to raise the money to make them permanent. The lights are usually on from dusk to about 10:30 p.m. during the fall and winter. They are on later during the summer.
The Gothic cathedral-style building has dominated Lewiston’s daylight skyline for nearly 70 years. Work on the building began in 1905 and wrapped up almost 33 years later. The basilica is the second-largest church in New England.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.