LEWISTON — The Lewiston Auburn Kiwanis Club will host writer Alice Bisson-Barnes on Wednesday, June 20, for a talk and slides of her research on the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul.
The presentation is from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Lewiston Auburn Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, 415 Lisbon St., Lewiston, and is free.
Titled “Peter, Paul and Noel,” the presentation will include details and historic photos about Noel Coumont, the much-maligned architect of the basilica. While in Maine, she will conduct additional on-site research to share what she calls “the true story of Noel Coumont.”
Bisson-Barnes grew up in Lewiston and was an altar server at the church during the 1950s. She was the youngest of 16 children and was a 1963 graduate of St. Dom’s, where she was a member of the Key Club. She lives in San Bruno, California.
Some historians erroneously believe that Coumont was fired because the church is bent, Bisson-Barnes said. “I show, using historic photos, how Noel built the church precisely where it is now because that was where the Dominicans wanted it way back in 1906.”
For more information, contact Paul Gauvreau, club president, at pgauvreau4@gmail.com
Alice Bisson-Barnes
Alice Bisson-Barnes
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