Everyone likes art, whether it is as simple as a comic book, or as subtle as a Monet or Mona Lisa. Most of our buildings are pieces of art; some simpler, some more complex. Church buildings in particular tend to be artfully conceived, as they are meant both literally and figuratively to inspire us.

Such is the case with Lewiston’s St. Joseph’s and St. Patrick’s churches, and Auburn’s St. Louis. All three buildings are works of art that cannot be resurrected once torn down. There is no Easter for demolished buildings.

Lewiston and Auburn have a choice to make about which city they would like to model themselves after. They could choose Lowell, Mass., because, like L-A, it was a once thriving textile manufacturing center. Or they can choose Portland for its vibrant, authentic rejuvenation.

I suggest the cities choose Portland. It not only has a fun, modern feel, but has preserved the fabric of its architectural art and heritage at the same time.

Lowell, while it has preserved its mills in good style, looks like a city that was bombed flat and rebuilt in an incongruous, opportunistic melee.

Lewiston should not model itself after Lowell, even if both cities’ names begin with “L.”

Portland has done something different from Lowell; it has capitalized on two of its art assets — the Portland Museum of Art and Maine College of Art. Maine College of Art is one of the sources of Portland’s young, electric personality; and the Museum demonstrates Portland’s depth of commitment to this enterprise that is called humanity.

Art is nothing if not reflective, both in its creation and its enjoyment. Art keeps us sane and civilized, with the potential to keep us wired and inspired.

Lewiston and Auburn desperately need an art museum and an art college. Anyone who has participated in the Artwalk has to agree. If St. Joseph’s doesn’t become Central Maine Medical Group’s education and conference center, which is a super idea, it should become the Androscoggin Museum of Art.

Central Maine Medical Group did a fine job of preserving the former convent at 12 High St.; it should easily be able to manage the same with St. Joseph’s.

One of the challenges of leveraging L-A’s art assets is that they are scattered around the edge of the city, rather than concentrated in the center of town. Perhaps the art departments of Bates College, USM-LA, CMCC and the city could collaborate to establish the Androscoggin College of Art at St. Patrick’s. Multiple synergies could be achieved without totally reinventing the wheel, rearranging the assets already in place rather than buying something entirely new.

For those looking for another purpose for St. Louis, there is a mission (so to speak) waiting to happen there, too. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland is a historic institution. At present, the Diocese has no central place to showcase that history. Perhaps the Diocese could take a quarterly collection to help support the Bishop David Bacon (first Bishop of Maine) Museum at St. Louis, and strengthen its organizational culture from the inside. Maine is no longer a frontier diocese; it has an established history.

For the century between 1850 and 1950, the textile and shoe mills were Lewiston and Auburn’s largest employers. Benjamin Bates and Lyman Nichols, among other drivers of Lewiston’s mills, understood the value of social investment to their commercial enterprise. They provided substantial funding for the establishment and sustenance of what would eventually become Bates College.

Today, the largest employers in these cities are the hospitals. Perhaps the hospitals, like their predecessors, would like to make a noble and lasting contribution to the cities that support them; something more reflective of the grandness of their enterprises than parking lots.

Let us, as a community, decide to celebrate and preserve the largest and finest pieces of art that exist in L-A, and smaller ones besides. There will be a long term economic, not to mention social, payoff.

Lewiston-Auburn must not become like Lowell. Let residents, instead, create an organization to focus on preserving the rich historical, architectural and artistic fabric of these communities. The economy, our grandchildren, our humanity and civilization depend on it.

There is no Easter for demolished buildings.

John Henderson is a local historian, artist and educator doing business as Hometown History Works-Memories Made Manifest.