Owners apply to operate cultural center in recently acquired South Park building
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A Turkish nonprofit organization which is seeking approvals to establish an Islamic Center in a vacant South Park elementary school would have preferred establishing a permanent home somewhere inside the city of Pittsburgh.
But real estate prices were too high in places such as Oakland, said Bekir Duz, a board member of the Western Pennsylvania Cultural Center. He said that was why the cultural center bought the old Broughton Elementary School for $100,000 last year from one of its members.
"We have been looking for a building for three years," Mr. Duz said.
"Either the price was too high or the location was not suitable," he said during an interview Monday at Snowdrop Elementary School in Monroeville, a small multicultural science academy operated by the cultural center.
At 7 p.m. today, , township supervisors will hold a hearing on the Western Pennsylvania Cultural Center's proposal to turn the former school into an Islamic center. The proposal has generated opposition from neighbors, who have gathered signatures on a petition, expressed concern about traffic and questioned the real purpose of the center.
To accommodate larger crowds, the hearing will be held in the auditorium of South Park High School on Eagle Ridge Road.
After a planning commission meeting Feb. 22, the cultural center's attorney, Dwight Ferguson, invited South Park residents to come to an open house at Snowdrop Elementary School so they could learn more about the group and see the school that it operates.
Mr. Duz and Yuksel Korkmaz, director of the cultural center, said no one from South Park showed up, much to their disappointment. They said visitors were welcome.
Mr. Duz said the Western Pennsylvania Cultural Center has about 35 members who live in the Pittsburgh area and want a place to worship, to gather and to preserve their traditions, culture and language. He said some Turkish university students might join while they are living and studying here.
"The Turkish population here is very small," he said.
Mr. Duz said Western Pennsylvania Cultural Center follows the teachings of M. Fethullah Gulen, an influential Islamic scholar, writer and religious thinker from Turkey who now lives in the United States, where he is receiving medical treatment.
Mr. Gulen, who was trained in Islam and in social and physical sciences, has created a movement which puts strong emphasis on education and interfaith dialogue with other religions, including Christians and Jews. He foresees an age of tolerance, understanding and international cooperation leading to a single civilization based on inter-cultural dialogue and the sharing of values.
His ideas, which are taught in thousands of schools, have generated controversy in Turkey: strongly secular sects say he is trying to establish an Islamic state, while radical religious groups say his methods are contrary to Islam.
Mr. Duz and Mr. Korkmaz are happy to distribute books and pamphlets outlining Mr. Gulen's teachings.
Locally, the cultural group is known for bringing together public officials and clergy from different faiths for interfaith dialog.
One supporter of their effort is the Very Rev. Daniel Valentine, pastor of Holy Spirit Church in West Mifflin, who sat with them during a three-hour planning commission meeting in South Park on Feb. 22.
"We want to see this group succeed," said Father Valentine, who has been working with different organizations for 25 years to improve interfaith relations.
Father Valentine is featured in the cultural center's brochure, showing clergy from various faiths who participated in their Iftar dinner at a Downtown hotel last year. The event marked the breaking of the Ramadan fast in the Islamic calendar.
"They invited people not of the Islamic faith, including almost all world religions. I was there representing the Catholics," said Father Valentine.
Father Valentine has found members of the cultural center to be "remarkable, well educated people."
"They have been to my church three times in small groups," he said. "They are here to reach out and to bridge the cultural gap of misunderstanding."
The cultural center bought the vacant Broughton Elementary School for $100,000 from Abdullah Nakibogulu, of Upper St. Clair, who bought two vacant South Park schools for $480,000 in 2002.
Mr. Duz said Mr. Nakibogulu was a member of the cultural center, but has returned to Turkey.
Mr. Nakibogulu's limited partnership, Development Investment, still owns the vacant Library Elementary School and other properties, according to public records.
Neighbors who live near the former school are concerned about basic problems, such extra traffic on Schang Road.
First Published March 9, 2006 12:00 am
