A stroll through the 109-acre campus of Bates College offers the sightseer a view of lawns, gardens, and ivy-covered buildings; one path leads to the summit of Mt. David, providing an aerial view of the Twin Cities and sometimes a glimpse of the White Mountains 50 miles to the west. Lewiston Falls and Dam are best viewed from North Bridge.
Bird fanciers visiting the area may wish to explore Thorn-crag Bird Sanctuary, a 310-acre wildlife preserve for birds and small animals. The Mt. Apatite recreation area in Auburn features beautiful wooded hiking through an area once known for tourmaline mining.
With the cooperative spirit that now characterizes the relationship between Lewiston and Auburn, the two cities formed L/A Arts in 1973 in order to increase the number of cultural amenities in the area. In cooperation with local educational institutions and community organizations, the group sponsors hundreds of performances a year by artists, authors, actors, and others in the community and the schools. Nationally recognized artists regularly perform at the Olin Arts Center on the Bates College campus. Each summer, the college hosts the Bates Dance Festival, a conglomeration of showings, performances, workshops, and discussions for students, performers, educators, and choreographers. The college's Department of Theater and Rhetoric stages several theater and dance productions annually at its three campus theaters.
The Androscoggin Chorale was formed as a community chorus in 1972. In 1991, the Chorale joined with the Maine Chamber Ensemble to form the Maine Music Society. The society has since offered several successful years of performances throughout the state, including operatic performances, classical music concerts, and holiday performances. The Public Theatre, a fully professional Equity operation which has presented comedic and dramatic performances to the community for more than 10 years, was recently voted the best theatre company in Maine for the second year in a row.
The Lewiston-Auburn College/USM Atrium Gallery presents exhibitions of paintings, sculptures, and photography from artists across the state. It also hosts the annual Area Artists Exhibition and annual L/A Arts Exhibit and Auction. The Bates College Museum of Art at Olin Arts Center is home to one of the region's finest collections of masterworks on paper, including the Marsden Hartley Memorial collection. More than 40,000 square feet of space at the Creative Photographic Art Center of Maine in the historic Bates Mill Complex is dedicated to photography and other related arts. Genealogical literature, historical exhibits on the Native American culture, and Civil War artifacts are on display at the Androscoggin Historical Society Library and Museum in Auburn.
The Franco-American Heritage Collection at Lewiston-Auburn College/USM provides a significant collection of documents, photographs, artifacts, and audiovisual material relating to the area's Franco-American community. Opened in 2000, Lewiston's Franco-American Heritage Center at St. Mary's was created to preserve the area's Franco-American heritage. The center serves as a museum, performance hall, and learning center.
Since 1940, Auburn's Community Little Theatre has been producing musicals, dramas, comedies, and benefit concerts each year in the Great Falls Performing Arts Center. The Pleasant Note Coffeehouse is a combination restaurant and concert venue that presents a variety of artists ranging from up-and-coming locals to internationally known folk and jazz performers. Because of all these activities, the Lewiston-Auburn area has been designated as one of the best small arts towns in America.
Arts and Culture Information: L/A Arts, 221 Lisbon St., Lewiston, ME 04240; telephone (207)782-7228
Summer is festival time in Lewiston-Auburn; the season is inaugurated by the Maine State Parade, the largest such event in the state, held each May in Lewiston. In June, the Great Falls Canoe Race highlights the Androscoggin River. The Liberty Festival on July 4th draws thousands of visitors for live entertainment, food, and a fireworks display. Lewiston celebrates its French-Canadian heritage each summer with the Festival de Joie, a celebration of traditional food and music from all around the world. In mid-August the skies over Auburn and Lewiston fill with the colorful sights of the Great Falls Balloon Festival; 45 balloonists from across the Northeast take part in the event.
A wealth of summer and winter recreational activities is available in and around Lewiston and Auburn. The proximity to mountains, forests, and lakes offers opportunities to skiers, skaters, campers, boaters, hikers, and anglers. Bicycle tours of the back roads of the region are very popular. Just north of Lewiston is the Hebron-to-Canton Rail Trail, an abandoned railroad bed turned pedestrian and bike route—a 36 mile round trip overall. For watersports enthusiasts, Lewiston plays host to the Great Falls Canoe Race each June.
The Twin Cities maintain dozens of parks and playgrounds, a supervised beach, skating rinks, and ball fields and courts. The Ingersoll Arena in Auburn is available for public skating, skating instruction, and hockey from early October to mid-March. Sunday River Mountain Bike Park in Bethel is served by two ski lifts, and offers sixty miles of marked and patrolled trails. The Lost Valley ski area features downhill and cross-country skiing in the winter and mountain bike trails and paintball facilities in the summer. A number of golfing facilities are also located in or near Lewiston.
The downtown areas of Lewiston and Auburn lost most of their retail trade to shopping centers in the 1980s but made a comeback as significant commercial centers in the late 1990s. Both Auburn and Lewiston have shopping malls, featuring major department stores, and Freeport—home of L.L. Bean, the outdoors outfitters—is about 30 minutes away from Lewiston. Nutcracker Sweets is an old-fashioned candy shop featuring hand-crafted chocolates, and Orphan Annie's Antiques in Auburn offers a large selection of Art Deco, Art Nouveau, Tiffany, Steuben, and other prominent French and American art glass.
Western Maine is home to many small inns where fine dining and sometimes spectacular views are available to the public. Restaurants in the Lewiston area range from inexpensive spots such as Bill Davis Luncheonette and Gipper's Sports Grill, to the international fine dining available at places like T.J.'s Restaurant and Eli's Restaurant at the Turner Highlands Country Club. Regional seafood restaurants and ethnic spots for Mexican, Chinese, and Italian cuisines are also abundant.
Visitor Information: Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce, 179 Lisbon St., PO Box 59, Lewiston, ME 04243; telephone (207)783-2249; email info@androscoggincounty.com