LEWISTON – The Maineiacs’ mascot, Lewy, is as much a part of the Twin Cities’ “It’s Happening Here” philosophy as anything.

When the team and its bobble-headed hockey player skated into Lewiston six years ago, they really livened things up, said Chip Morrison, president of the Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce.

“They gave us a new identity,” he said. “They’re a part of the entire community. Their mascot is at all the festivals, and the team lives in our community.”

That may change.

The team has until midnight Saturday to tell the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League whether it wants to stay in Lewiston or relocate next season.

They will be missed, if they decide to relocate to the north, Morrison said.

“But it’s a reminder that this is, after all, a business for the Maineiacs,” he said. “Sports is a business, from junior hockey level all the way up to the Red Sox. And one lesson from business – don’t get too caught up in what you’ve got. It could be gone.”

The team has meant business for the community, as well.

It hosts 35 games a year at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee. At a minimum, that means opposing teams must reserve a block of rooms for players, coaches and staff in area hotels 35 nights each year. And they all have to eat, too.

“That adds up to a ton of hotel reservations and a ton of meals,” Morrison said. “And that doesn’t include the other teams’ fans. They come in, too. And they need places to stay.”

Ramada Inn owner Gary Adams said his Lewiston hotel gets about half the business from the Maineiacs’ home games. The teams typically take 20 to 30 rooms for each game.

“They are a base business for the community, and it would be like a factory closing if they leave,” Adams said. He wasn’t worried, however.

“These things have a tendency to work themselves out, from a business point of view,” he said.

If the Maineiacs leave, the Colisee might be available for more junior hockey tournaments, and those would bring in just as many, if not more, guests, Adams said.

The Maineiacs’ decision won’t affect City Hall. The city washed its hands of those concerns when it agreed to sell the Colisee to Firland Management. The company took over all operations and contractual obligations at the ice arena last July, paying the city $1 million.

Firland owner Jim Cain owns the real estate – the land, the parking and the building, said Phil Nadeau, Lewiston’s deputy city administrator.

Cain said the agreement he signed with the team is virtually the same as the contract the city signed in 2004. It allows the team to cancel the contract if game attendance drops below 2,500 for 22 games. Attendance did drop.

Cain said he would be looking to increase attendance, with or without the Maineiacs.

“If you can get a fan-based team in there, there’s no question the concessions will do well,” Cain said. “They do well right now. A typical game day is about 2,000 fans. You’re looking at $10,000 to $12,000 a night in food and beverage sales. The quick answer is, we would need to have some hockey in there to replace the team as a tenant that would be a fan-based model.”

One thing that won’t change for the city of Lewiston is the debt on the building. Nadeau said the city has $6.3 million in outstanding debt, money that will be repaid out of the city’s general fund.

The money was spent on a $2 million facade and building addition, and interior work in 2005; and a new ice resurfacer, a portable stage, an improved compressor, boiler repairs and bathroom upgrades in 2006.