AUBURN – The city will take suggestions for a new name for the South Bridge.

Auburn city councilors turned back a proposal last week to name the bridge connecting Lewiston’s Little Canada with New Auburn to honor Dr. Bernard W. Lown, a Nobel Peace Prize recipient and former Lewiston resident.

Lewiston city councilors supported the new name at a special joint City Council meeting. But Auburn councilors said they’d prefer selecting a name that had more meaning for Twin Cities residents.

The city is taking nominations for new names at the City Clerk’s office in Auburn Hall. Submissions must be sent or dropped off at the Auburn City Clerk’s Office, 60 Court St., no later than Aug. 31.

Lown, now 86 and living in Massachusetts, was born in Lithuania. He moved to Lewiston in his early teens and attended Lewiston High School and the University of Maine before continuing on to John Hopkins School of Medicine. He co-founded the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War in 1980, and that led to being named for a Nobel Peace Prize in 1985.

He also is recognized as an outstanding cardiologist and is noted for his role in developing the defibrillator.