It was 59 years ago, on the snowy afternoon of Nov. 18, 1956, when a raging fire leveled St. Dominic’s Arena.

That blaze was a devastating blow to residents of the Twin Cities, and particularly to parishioners of Saints Peter and Paul Church, whose efforts brought that modern ice arena to Lewiston.

The large wooden building, constructed almost entirely with donated material and labor, was only seven years old when it burned. Photos in the Lewiston Daily Sun and Lewiston Evening Journal showed how the inferno swept through the empty structure in a single hour. Just two hours later, about 2,000 people would have been inside that building for a scheduled semi-pro hockey game.

Lewiston Fire Chief Z.F. Drouin, whose home on Howe Street was within shouting distance of the arena, spotted the fire at about the same time police officer John J. O’Connell Jr. saw flames and sounded the alarm. The news story said Chief Drouin, who had been at home recuperating from surgery, grabbed his hat, coat and overshoes and hurried to the inferno, but he got there too late to do anything. Investigation of the fire’s cause determined a huge air blower between the refrigeration plant at the rear of the main building “sucked the ammonia fumes into the auditorium where the mixture of gas and air created an explosive situation.”

That day brought the season’s first major snowstorm, and strong winds whipped the flames. Hundreds of spectators gathered on hills and sidewalks. Embers were carried as far as East Avenue, and the sparks sizzled in the snow that covered Franklin Pasture where Lewiston High School is now.

It was fortunate that the wind was from the northeast. Otherwise, a heavily populated residential area would have been threatened.

St. Dom’s Arena was the pride of the L-A community. It was owned by the Dominican Fathers, and it came about through an extraordinary volunteer effort by parishioners and area businesses.

The arena had new seating installed the previous year, and a $30,000 roller-skating floor, said to be the largest of its kind in New England. A $100,000 ice-freezing system was installed early in the facility’s history, making it one of the most modern ice arenas in the eastern United States.

A feature story by Rose O’Brien in the magazine section of the Lewiston Evening Journal of Jan. 6, 1951, recalled the community spirit that built St. Dom’s Arena. She quoted Tom Riley, the Canadian engineer who installed the artificial ice equipment.

Riley said, “I took this job just as a job. Nobody told me I was getting in on a community project. But when I heard the story behind this area, so many people working so hard, giving so much, I knew I had to get my part finished, war shortages or no war shortages. Funniest thing about this job, you’re not around here very long before you stop thinking ‘I’ and start thinking ‘we’. That’s what I mean. It couldn’t happen anywhere else but in the United States.”

It would seem that so many discouraged volunteers and donors would have given up all hope for a major hockey venue in Lewiston. It wasn’t long before the Central Maine Youth Center, later called the Central Maine Civic Center, rose from the St. Dom’s Arena ashes.

It’s now the Androscoggin Bank Colisee. Based on the St. Dominic’s High School tradition of hockey excellence 60 years ago, the Colisee continues L-A’s commitment to youth hockey, and a just-beginning season as home to the L/A Fighting Spirit Junior “A” hockey program.

The Colisee website reminds us of a rich sports and entertainment history on the site of that original arena. The famous world heavyweight championship fight 50 years ago between Sonny Liston and Muhammad Ali still tops the list. The youth center/civic center/Colisee hosted Maine Nordiques hockey in 1973-77; the Lewiston MAINEiacs early in the 2000s; and many outstanding high school championship games.

The Boston Celtics basketball team played exhibition games there when Red Auerbach was coaching and Bob Cousy was a star. That was when the Civic Center had the largest portable floor in the world.

Entertainers included ZZ Top in 1975; Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band in 1977; and Bob Dylan in 2000, 2008 and 2013.

The Colisee has hosted many business and trade shows and thousands of area residents will long remember graduations at this location.

Dave Sargent is a freelance writer and a native of Auburn. He can be reached by sending email to [email protected].