The Preserve Croatian Heritage Foundation and Northside Leadership Conference presented five options for use of the former St. Nicholas Church on East Ohio Street today at a press conference at the Penn Brewery.

A proposed National Immigration Museum would use the church building as the exhibit space and connect it to trails from a parking lot on Troy Hill Road across from the brewery.

The current 10,000-square-foot lot would be expanded to about 20,000-square feet and cost about $10 million, said Mark Fatla, executive director of the Northside Leadership Conference.

The two non-profits that have teamed up to propose use of the church, which the St. Nicholas Parish in Millvale closed in 2004, depend on the largess of Lamar Advertising Inc. to move forward -- providing Lamar is able to purchase the church and its several support buildings from the Diocese of Pittsburgh. Lamar Advertising Pittsburgh vice-president Stan Geier has said he is willing to work with the groups so that the church can be retooled. Lamar needs enough space on the lot to secure about five billboards, he said.

Lamar and the preservation team are expected to meet next week to discuss their plans "and see if there's a solution that satisfies everybody," said Mr. Fatla.

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