AUBURN — An effort to buy a set of historic New Auburn church bells will kick off in earnest later this month.

The city will host an exhibition of the original 1915 bells removed from New Auburn’s St. Louis Church at 11 a.m. at Cote Crane Co., 2980 Hotel Road.

Cote Cranes pulled the bells from the church last fall and has been storing them for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland.

The city has a sales agreement to buy the bells and put them on permanent display, said Alan Manoian, Auburn’s economic development specialist.

“This has been a long time coming,” Manoian said. “I’ve been working to get to this point for four months.”

The city must raise $12,000 to buy the bells. The fundraising will begin at that ceremony, he said.

“This is really an exhibition,” he said. “We’ve been talking about the bells and people really want to see them. This is great opportunity for them.”

The four bells were cast by the Paccard Bell Foundry in Annecy, France, at the request of the Provosts and the Duponts, the New Auburn church and its Franco-American parishioners. The bells’ surfaces are covered with fine details — sculptured faces, Latin inscriptions and scroll work.

They were kept in the church tower for 98 years but were removed from the decommissioned church in November.

Manoian said the bells will not be on permanent display until the fundraising campaign wraps up and the city can buy the bells and find a permanent home for them.

“But we will have some very high-quality photographic images taken, so people can enjoy them,” he said.

staylor@sunjournal.com

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