Former Church To Open As New Arts And Performance Space

ORONO, Maine - Over 10 years after the last Mass was held at a former Catholic church in Maine, the Orono building will reopen this week as a new performance space.
 
The former St. Mary's Catholic Church, now the Old St. Mary's Reception Hall, will host its first public event Friday. The Bangor Daily News reports the church was purchased in 2010 by a couple who recently moved to Maine.
 
Despite the enormous of amount of work that went into restoring it, Fariba Dayhim and Shahram Pourmomtaz say they believed it was important.
 
St. Mary's was built in 1905 by architect Victor Hodgins, who designed a number of well-known buildings in eastern Maine.
 
The first performance planned for the former church will be a production of the play "The Lion in Winter.''