Category Archive: Religious Properties
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Art appreciation
By Alice T. Carter
TRIBUNE-REVIEW THEATER CRITIC
Tuesday, May 6, 2008Diane Novosel has plans to shed light on a local art treasure in ways both literal and metaphoric.As the chairwoman of The Society to Preserve the Millvale Murals of Maxo Vanka, Novosel is producing “Gift to America,” a play that celebrates the murals that adorn the walls and ceilings of St. Nicholas Croatian Catholic Church in Millvale.“I recognize (the murals) as the art treasure that it is, and really feel duty-bound to step up to the plate and do something,” says Novosel, a resident of Leechburg.
Beginning Wednesday, four actors will perform a 60-minute staged reading of David Demarest’s “Gift to America,” which was first staged at the church in 1981. The readings will be accompanied by interludes of recorded Croatian and church-related music.
In addition to raising money to properly preserve and light the murals, Novosel hopes the performances increase local awareness and appreciation for the paintings. A question-and-answer period and an opportunity to examine the murals will follow the performance.Vanka’s murals have been part of Novosel’s life since her youth, when her family lived in Lawrenceville and she attended both church and school as a parishioner at St. Nicholas Croatian Catholic Church.
“They always fascinated me — probably terrorized me — as a grade-school student,” says Novosel, who found her appreciation for the works growing as she grew older.
Painted in the late 1930s and early 1940s, Vanka’s murals depict Croatian peasants who left their homeland and farms to seek a better life in factories and mills in the United States. The native Croatian’s dark, dramatic and sometimes horrific scenes convey his beliefs, which were pro-labor and anti-war.
“(The murals) are certainly unique in Pittsburgh, and we feel they are of national significance,” says Arthur Ziegler, president of the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation. “They express the concerns of working people of the times, and we would hope they could be preserved and restored and raise the national awareness of them.”
Geoffrey Hitch, an adjunct professor who teaches business acting at the Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business, will direct “Gift to America,” as he did when it was performed in 1981.
Mike Sambol of Shaler, former choir director at St. Nicholas, will appear as Father Zagar, the pastor at St. Nicholas who originally commissioned the murals.
David Crawford of Squirrel Hill will play Maxo Vanka, and the unnamed Female Voices will be represented by Katherine Carlson of Highland Park and Crystal Manich, a former Mt. Lebanon resident who now is a New York-based actress.
Hitch emphasizes that it’s a production that focuses its attention more on the murals than the characters and actors.
“We’re not even lighting the actors. We’re lighting the murals,” he says. “This is not character acting. The acting is more the sense of being a guide to the murals. We hope the awareness of the actors is secondary to (awareness of) the murals. The main characters are the murals.”
Alice T. Carter can be reached at acarter@tribweb.comor 412-320-7808.
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St. Nicholas North Side
PHLF News
March 7, 2008St Nicholas Church on East Ohio Street was closed several years ago by the Roman Catholic Diocese and merged with St. Nicholas Millvale.
A group envisioned saving the church and using it as a Croatian Heritage Museum, a goal that we were glad to see set forth. Unfortunately no agreement could be reached and the Follier group from Italy, indicated that it wanted to buy the church property.
However, that group is not going forward with its plan, and PHLF contacted the Diocese at the request of the Croatian Heritage Group to see if it could be for sale again for that purpose.
The Diocese encouraged a proposal to purchase the building for a Museum, but not for church purposes, particularly if the space is also rented for special events where alcohol might be sold.
We hope that the group can consider the Museum and events purposes only so that the buildings and its marvelous interiors can be saved and continue in a public use.
PHLF, the Croatian organization leaders, Preservation Pittsburgh and others participated in the efforts to redesign the proposed Rt. 28 Expressway so that the church could be saved and would have a private entrance road to it.
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Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation Awards $84,700 in Grants and Technical Assistance to 15 Historic Religious Properties in Allegheny County
PHLF News
March 6, 2008
By Carole MalakoffOn February 7, George C. Dorman, trustee of the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation (Landmarks) and Chair of its Historic Religious Properties Committee, announced the 2008 Historic Religious Properties Grants and Technical Assistance Awards at the Annual Awards Ceremony in the Landmarks Building at Station Square, where Landmarks is headquartered.
The program, now in its eleventh year, assists architecturally-significant religious properties in Allegheny County that provide community services in the neighborhoods, have active congregations, and are able to match the grant. Grants are used for architectural restoration projects on the structures and this year ranged between $3,200 and $10,000.
Thirty-five applications for grants and technical assistance from historic religious institutions located throughout Allegheny County were reviewed; eleven congregations received grants and three others received technical assistance. One congregation was awarded an energy conservation audit funded by the Saxer Family Foundation. Applicable grants awarded this year include restoration of stained glass, masonry work, roof and parapet repairs, and bell tower work. Technical assistance is directed to assisting congregations in prioritizing restoration projects and establishing preventive maintenance programs.
The following eleven churches were awarded grants:
- Epiphany Church, The Hill
- Episcopal Church of the Nativity, Crafton
- Grace Episcopal Church, Mt. Washington
- Hazelwood Christian Church, Hazelwood
- Incarnation of the Lord Church, Observatory Hill
- Mt. Lebanon United Presbyterian Church, Mt. Lebanon
- Presbyterian Church of Mt. Washington, Mt. Washington
- Riverview United Presbyterian Church, Observatory Hill
- Sacred Heart Church, Shadyside
- St. Matthew Lutheran Church, East Allegheny
- Trinity Cathedral, Downtown
Receiving technical assistance are:
- Everlasting Covenant Cathedral, Larimer
- Greater Pittsburgh Gospel Deliverance Center, Bloomfield/Friendship
- Second United Presbyterian Church of Wilkinsburg
An energy audit will be conducted for:
- The Pittsburgh New Church, Point Breeze
The Historic Religious Properties Grants Program is funded by annual year-end gifts from Landmarks members and trustees and from general funds budgeted by Landmarks.
For more information on this and other programs, please contact Carole Malakoff, Coordinator, Historic Religious Properties Program, at 412-471-5808, hrp@phlf.org, or visit the website www.phlf.org.
Founded in 1964 and now recognized as one of the nation’s most innovative and effective nonprofit historic preservation organizations, the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation works to:
- Identify and save historically-significant places;
- revitalize historic neighborhoods, towns, and urban areas;
- preserve historic farms and historic-designed landscapes; and
- educate people about the Pittsburgh region’s rich architectural heritage.
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Historic-church projects task foundation
By Jeremy Boren
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Saturday, December 29, 2007A growing number of historic churches in Allegheny County rotted by leaky roofs or even ransacked by thieves are seeking cash from the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation to jump-start expensive renovation efforts.
Since 1997, the foundation has given more than $600,000 to 94 congregations to fix cracked stained-glass windows and to replace crumbling brick. Thirty-five churches — the most ever in a single year — requested $290,000 worth of repairs for 2008.
Members of many aging congregations will be forced to look for help elsewhere next year — only about $87,000 will be available when the foundation’s Historic Religious Properties Committee decides how to distribute the money in mid-January, said Carole Malakoff, the program’s coordinator.
“This church is something worth preserving. It’s a yellow-brick building with a red door, and it had beautiful stained-glass windows, light fixtures and cherry wood inside,” said the Rev. Rosemary Seals, co-pastor of Triumph the Church and Kingdom of God in Christ on Lillie Avenue in Braddock.
In July, thieves stole 14 brass light fixtures, valued at $1,000 apiece, and three stained-glass windows from the 500-person sanctuary of the century-old church.
Water comes in through a shoddy roof, spurring mold growth.The condition has kept the 40 to 50 regular members from attending services there since July, said Seals, 74, of the Hill District.
Seals said she hopes the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation will give $10,000, the largest award available, to help her with repairs, which are expected to cost up to $51,000.
The Rev. John Paul Chaney, 54, of Bloomfield, has asked for the same amount of money to begin a much larger $1 million to $1.5 million restoration of the roof, windows and mold-encrusted walls of the former Fourth United Presbyterian Church in Bloomfield.
“It’s perfectly located,” Chaney said of the 112-year-old Richardsonian Romanesque stone church at the corner of South Pacific and Friendship avenues.
The church is convenient to Bloomfield, Friendship and Shadyside residents.
“The stone itself is absolutely gorgeous. I don’t know what it would cost for somebody to build a church like this today,” Chaney said.
The church hasn’t been used in almost two years, when the roof began to leak and no money was available to fix it, he said.
It was renamed Pacific Sanctuary Church in September, when Chaney’s nonprofit Earthen Vessels Outreach Program, an Episcopal Church affiliate, bought it.
Chaney said he hopes to make the church into a sanctuary for regular services and a meeting place, akin to The Union Project in Highland Park.
“Our prime goal now is to raise a lot of money so we can give to a lot of churches,” said Malakoff, adding that Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation requires churches to be at least 50 years old, located in Allegheny County and can match the grant awards.
“It’s not only that many churches need stained-glass windows, it’s the fact that the church in many communities is the center of activity, not only for religious purposes but also social services,” said Malakoff, the program’s director. “That needs to be preserved.”
Jeremy Boren can be reached at jboren@tribweb.com or 412-765-2312.
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Anniversary brings special focus to Rodef Shalom building
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
By Patricia Lowry,
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRodef Shalom Congregation will mark the 100th anniversary of its building and the 150th birthday of the congregation with an afternoon of lectures and discussions open to the community.
At the free event, titled “Historical Symposium: Honoring Our Builders and Building,” Brandeis University professor Jonathan Sarna will give the keynote address: “The Place of Rodef Shalom in the History of American Judaism.” Two panel discussions will follow. The first, on Rodef Shalom’s building designed by Henry Hornbostel, features Eliza Smith Brown, author of “Pittsburgh Legends and Visions: An Illustrated History”; Charles Rosenblum, assistant professor of architecture, Carnegie Mellon University; and Albert M. Tannler, Historical Collections Director of Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation. The second panel will discuss the congregation’s builders and early members who made significant contributions to the development of Rodef Shalom and the Pittsburgh community.
The event will be at 1 p.m. Nov. 4 at Rodef Shalom, corner of Fifth and Morewood avenues, Oakland.
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Tears accompany closing of St. Paulinus Church in Clairton
Thursday, October 04, 2007
By Mary Niederberger,
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteFor the past 20 years, Isabel Lauterbach has volunteered her time to help clean St. Paulinus Church in Clairton, but she took extra care with last week’s cleaning.
That’s because it would be the last time she would dust and polish the church she has attended for more than 60 years.
St. Paulinus, a stone church that was hand-built by parishioners and community members in 1937, was closed on Sunday after a final Mass was held.
“A lot of people walked out in tears. A lot of people were taking pictures,” said Vince Gori, another longtime parishioner. He said between 300 and 400 people attended the final Mass.
Miss Lauterbach said although she was saddened by the closing, she understands the need for it as the congregation has continuously decreased over the years.
“There’s really nothing in this area for the young people, and they’ve had to move out,” Miss Lauterbach said. “I’m just glad there is still a church in Clairton to go to.”
Miss Lauterbach was referring to St. Clare of Assisi Church — the former St. Joseph Church — located across town.
Since the merged St. Clare of Assisi parish was formed in 1994, it kept two church buildings open — St. Paulinus and St. Joseph. Following the decision to close St. Paulinus, the Diocese of Pittsburgh last month renamed St. Joseph, St. Clare of Assisi Church.
Tight finances and a shrinking congregation in recent years prompted the parish to consider the closing. A parish committee decided after a long and detailed study that it made sense to close St. Paulinus, said the parish pastor, the Rev. Rich Zelik.
St. Paulinus, which sits on a hill overlooking the Monongahela River and U.S. Steel Corp.’s Clairton Works, is 30 years older than St. Joseph Church.
The parish committee determined that more money would be needed to maintain and upgrade St. Paulinus because of the building’s age and condition. It has no restrooms or air conditioning and is in need of roof repairs.
St. Paulinus Parish didn’t have enough money for a professional architect or builder in 1935 when the bishop gave it permission to build a church.
The Rev. Joseph L. Lonergan, pastor at the time, announced that the parishioners would build the church themselves.
The church was constructed with stone from the “nearby New England Hollow,” according to the church history.
The building committee studied the architecture of many European churches to come up with a design. “The works of Medieval craftsmen were copied in several instances,” church history indicates. That includes the bell tower, which was modeled after the towers of the walled city of Carcassonne, France, and the ciborium, a wooden canopy over the altar, which was said to be made of the wood from abandoned riverboats and decorated with designs copied from a cathedral in Sicily.
The church history said that “men and boys” made the ciborium, the altar railing, candleholders, sanctuary and sacristy.”
The women of the parish stained the church’s pews and are also credited with embroidering the altar linens and making the vestments for the altar boys.
The church was blessed on Sept. 6, 1937, which was Labor Day. The building was renovated in 1976 to accommodate changes in the liturgy.
Father Zelik said no decision has been made about religious items in the church.
He would like to see a nonprofit group operate the building as a community center. Mr. Gori hopes to get an historic designation for it.
Angeline Benedetti, who joined St. Paulinus in 1950, didn’t take the closing as easily as Miss Lauterbach.
“When it was announced in church one Sunday that it would close, I had to get up and leave because I was so upset. I still feel real sad about it. It’s such a beautiful church,” said Mrs. Benedetti, of Jefferson Hills.
Masses were held each Sunday at both sites during the first years after the merger created St. Clare of Assisi parish.
But in recent years, Masses were held at each church for six months of the year — during the summer months at St. Joseph because it has air conditioning and during cooler months at St. Paulinus.
Mrs. Benedetti said the church holds decades of memories for her. Her late husband, Elio, attended the church for his entire life, and his father, Alfred, helped to build it.
All of her five children were baptized and received their First Holy Communion there, and four were married in the church.
The St. Paulinus closing follows by one week the closing of Sacred Heart and St. Peter churches of the St. Martin de Porres Parish in McKeesport.
Those churches were closed with prayer services and a march between the buildings by parishioners, carrying banners that celebrated the ethnic heritage of each church, said the Rev. Tom Sparacino, pastor.
As with St. Paulinus, the closings were prompted by an aging and dwindling congregation.
“It was a day that was filled with so many mixed emotions. It was filled with sweet sorrow,” Father Sparacino said. “People are still hurting and will continue to hurt. But the reality is, we need to join around the altar as one.”
First published on October 4, 2007 at 6:19 am
Mary Niederberger can be reached at mniederberger@post-gazette.com or 412-851-1512. -
Symposium Marks Centennial for Rodef Shalom, Western PA’s Oldest Jewish Sanctuary
September 25, 2007
Historians and architectural experts will discuss Rodef Shalom Congregation’s landmark sanctuary listed on the National Register of Historic Places and its founders during “Historical Symposium: Honoring Our Builders and Building” on Sunday, November 4, 2007 as part of the sanctuary’s centennial celebration and the Congregation’s sesquicentennial observances. Free and open to the public, the community-wide symposium starts at 1:00 PM, at Rodef Shalom, corner of Fifth and Morewood Avenues in Oakland.
Professor Jonathan Sarna, a Joseph H. & Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History at Brandeis University and Director of the Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program will deliver the keynote address, “The Place of Rodef Shalom in the History of American Judaism.” Two panel discussions will follow. Elaborating on the Congregation’s historic building include: Eliza Smith Brown, author of Pittsburgh Legends and Visions: An Illustrated History, Charles Rosenblum, Assistant Professor of Architecture, Carnegie Mellon University and Albert M. Tannler, Historical Collections Director of Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation. The second panel will discuss the Congregation’s builders and early members who made significant contributions to the development of Rodef Shalom and the Pittsburgh community.
Henry Hornbostel (1867-1961) who designed the century old sanctuary is well known for his designs of many national treasures including Pittsburgh’s Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall, Pittsburgh City-County building and nearby Carnegie Mellon University originally known as Carnegie Technical Schools.
A 1907 Pittsburgh Post article wrote of Rodef Shalom: “wonder in architecture… one of the handsomest temples for Jewish worship in the country.” It further describes the building: “In design, construction and workmanship, in decorations and in every respect the fine edifice is one of the proudest creations in modern architecture and building methods, being a composite of excellence in hundreds of details.”
The sanctuary’s most distinctive feature is its dome which was constructed in the Catalan timbrel vault style, indigenous to northeastern Spain using interlocking layers of thin tiles laid in mortar to create a lightweight, strong vault without the use of wood or steel beams. The Guastavino Fireproof Construction Company, which patented the Catalan vault, often collaborated with well-known architects such as Henry Hornbostel, who used Guastavino arches and stairways in a number of his buildings including the Rodef Shalom sanctuary.
Two contemporary assessments of Hornbostel’s Rodef Shalom Temple are offered by Franklin Toker and Walter C Kidney. Franklin Toker, an associate professor of architecture at Carnegie Mellon University in 1980, was instrumental in obtaining the designation of the Temple Sanctuary on the National Register of Historic Places. Professor Toker is quoted in “Historic Landmark,” which appeared in The Pittsburgh Press of May 25, 1980: The Temple’s sanctuary is one of the…first products of the Beaux Art movement in Pittsburgh…popular in the United States between1900-1935.
In Pittsburgh’s Landmark Architecture (1997), Walter C. Kidney of the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation– and the author of Henry Hornbostel: An Architect’s Master Touch (Landmarks, 2002) — described Hornbostel’s work on the Rodef Shalom Temple: “Hornbostel designed a quietly sumptuous interior of mahogany and gilt, focused on an ark in the Ionic order.” He went on to say, “Rodef Shalom has served two purposes well: as a dignified place of worship and as an ornament to an elegant neighborhood.”
For more information on the “Historical Symposium: Honoring Our Builders and Building” or tours of this community treasure, contact Chris Benton at 412-621-6566, or visit http://rodefshalom.org/who/history/.
The Symposium is underwritten in part by the Ruth & Bernard Levaur Contemporary Lecture Fund.
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From June 2007 through May 2008, Rodef Shalom Congregation, the oldest Jewish congregation in Western Pennsylvania, as well as the largest Reform congregation, celebrates two significant milestones: the 150th anniversary of its charter by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the 100th anniversary of its landmark Fifth Avenue building. In 1885 Rodef Shalom leaders hosted the Pittsburgh Platform where members of the national Reform movement defined its first major tenets, marking the Congregation’s historic role in the development of Reform Judaism.
Throughout its history Rodef Shalom has been dedicated to observing and teaching Jewish values through inspirational worship, an emphasis on lifelong learning, active advocacy for social justice, service to region-wide human needs, promotion of interfaith dialogue and understanding, and encouragement of the spiritual and educational growth of its young people. For more information, visit www.Rodefshalom.org.
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Southminster church windows being restored
By Erin Gibson Allen
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
Thursday, September 27, 2007Enter Southminster Presbyterian Church, in Mt. Lebanon, and you’ll see two stained glass windows on either side of the main door that welcome visitors “… into the house of the Lord.”
In the spacious sanctuary you will see a large stained glass window, known as the Chancel Window, depicting images of Jesus Christ.
Sit down to pray and you’ll notice more large windows to the left and right in the transepts, referred to as the Parable Window and the Miracle Window. These contain Biblical images rendered predominantly in cobalt blue. Smaller windows line the outer edges of the pews.
On your way out, you’ll see the Great Commission Window, which, among depictions of the disciples, tells the visitor to “… make disciples of all nations, and lo I am with you always.”
These coordinated images done in stained glass were the vision of Dr. Calvin Reid, the fourth pastor of the church. The church was built in 1928 and the windows started going in after WWII, but were not finished until 1963.
Now those windows are getting a meticulous face lift.
Various church families and groups funded the initial cost of the windows, designed by Pittsburgh Stained Glass Studios, D’Ascenzo Studios, and Willet Studios.
An evaluation in 2005 revealed that the windows now suffer from planar deflection, which means that the lead material between the glass pieces has weakened over time, causing the windows to curve and bulge.
The Miracle Window, facing south, was in the worst condition and is being completely refurbished in the first phase of repair.
“The real miracle is that the window didn’t crash onto Castle Shannon Boulevard,” said Carla Campbell, a church trustee working on the window project.
The Miracle Window is the largest part of the renovation effort, costing about $80,000. Small “vent” windows, which open to the outside, are also being repaired, costing about $1,500 each.
Juxtaposed to the sanctuary is a chapel, with more stained glass windows, several of which are also being repaired.
Stained Glass Resources in the West End is repairing the windows under the supervision of Kirk Weaver, a vice president of the company and Southminster member.
Mr. Weaver, who has been working with stained glass his entire life — his father and grandfather were in the business — explains that techniques used today are much the same as they have always been. Work is still done by hand by craftsmen using the same tools and techniques that the original artist would have used.
Restoring stained glass windows is tedious and time consuming. Mr. Weaver estimates that this project will take about 2,000 manhours.
The most difficult part of the job is removing the windows. “You don’t really know how strong the panels are until you get them down,” he said. Workers must be precise and careful so as not to damage any of pieces as they are removed.
After the window is disassembled, one section at a time, a full-sized rubbing of the window is made, using brown paper layered with carbon paper. This allows the craftsmen to reassemble the window, exactly as it was, using new lead, and after cleaning each hand-blown piece of glass.
Working on church windows adds pressure to the job, Mr. Weaver said. “The church has served as a good steward of these works of art, and now it is my turn. It is an awesome responsibility.”
The Great Commission Window contains small images of local interest worth searching for. Hidden in this window is a Bessemer furnace, used to produce carbon steel in the area’s historic steel days.
The church hopes to have the windows back, good as new, in time for Christmas. After being refurbished, the Miracle Window “should outlast any of the members,” Mr. Weaver said.
A majority of the funding for the window repair will be covered by member donations. In June, the church received designation as a historic landmark with the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation. The Foundation provided the church with a $5,000 matching grant to help fund the window restoration.
The church envisions repairing the remaining windows in two additional phases as their condition deteriorates and as funds allow.
Southminster is an active church, with approximately 1,500 members and numerous outreach programs. The church offers a preschool, daycare, and operates the South Hills Food Pantry. As a member of the Interfaith Hospitality Network, Southminster provides meals and overnight accommodations to homeless families one week at a time, on a rotating basis. Many local groups use the church for meeting space.
A visitor in the sanctuary also may notice woodcarvings recalling the disciplines of daily life (labor and education, for example) lining the chancel. These carvings were done in 1989 by sculptor Hugh Watkins, a church member and Mt. Lebanon native.
Perhaps the most distinctive feature of the church, however, is better heard than seen. Inside the sandstone tower atop the church are eight bells. Six of these bells came from a church in Preston, England, whose tower became too weak to hold the heavy bells, which range in weight from 500 to 1,000 pounds. A foundation in England works to find churches that can use abandoned bells. Four of the bells were built in 1814, two others in 1934, and two in 2000. The bells were dedicated at Southminster in October of 2002.
It takes 8 people, pulling on ropes, to ring the bells, explained Richard Pinkerton, the minister of music. Mr. Pinkerton believes that church’s tower is one of only 45 in North America to have active full-circle ringing bells like these. Most church bells are either not active or are run mechanically, he said.
The tower is known as the “Peace Tower” because the word peace is engraved in two different languages (for a total of 16 languages) on opposite sides of each bell.
Both the windows and the bells serve as evidence that sometimes doing things by hand, in the same tradition as they have been for hundreds of years, creates the most inspiring results.
The bells can be heard on Thursday evenings, Sunday mornings, and special occasions.
For more, call the church, at 412-343-8900.
First published on September 27, 2007 at 6:45 am
Erin Gibson Allen is a freelance writer.