Lamar and Diocese Talk About St. Nicholas

The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh has a sales agreement with Lamar Advertising Inc. to sell the St. Nicholas Church property along Rt. 28 in Troy Hill. Word of the deal comes just days before the nonprofit groups Preserve Croatian Heritage and Northside Leadership Conference were set to issue a study showing reuse of the historic church is feasible both from the logistic and economic standpoint. Northside Leadership Conference Executive Director Mark Fatla says “It is a long way from a sales agreement to a sale.” He says no mater what Lamar plans to do with the site it will have to go through the Pittsburgh Historic Review Commission. In an email response to a request for an interview Lamar Vice President Stan Geire says, “The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation is condemning properties along route 28. The states actions have impacted a significant number of billboards on this roadway. The abandon St. Nicholas Church property in Troy Hill is perfectly suited for the relocation of one of the impacted billboards. That will be the primary use of the property.”
The report to be released Friday will say an immigration museum would be the 15th most popular museum in the region if it were to be housed in the old church. Fatla says he is sure preservationists and Preserve Croatian Heritage will be fighting to keep the building in place. Fatla says it would be preferable to have the church on the site rather than "a billboard and jersey barriers." But only if the building can be made productive again. It is unclear if the parcel is large enough to hold both the building and a billboard. Geire says, “ I am happy to meet with any groups wishing to preserve the Church.”
There is still the mater of fundraising. Even if a non-profit group were to get hold of the structure it would have to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to create and run such a museum.