By Raanan Geberer
Brooklyn Daily Eagle

OCEAN HILL – A group of Italian-Americans has been mounting an effort to save a historically Italian church building in this low-income neighborhood, one that has architecturally unique characteristics.

However, the Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and Queens, saying the now-vacant building is too rundown to restore, wants to sell it with an eye toward creating affordable housing.

The church, built in 1906, is the baroque-style Our Lady of Loreto on Sackman and Pacific streets. According to Mario Toglia, one of the group that is leading the preservation effort, the church “is truly Italian because it was built by a talented group of gifted Italian immigrant artists – Adriano Armezzani, architect; Antonio Federici, builder; Gaetano Federici, sculptor; Gaetano Capone, artist; and Serafino Biancardi, interior decorator.�

He also calls attention to the three main paintings in the church, representing the Transfiguration, the Immaculate Conception, and the Translation of the House of Nazareth, all painted by Capone.

The area was heavily Italian from the 1880s through the 1970s, similar to such other historic Italian neighborhoods as North Williamsburg, Bensonhurst and the Bronx’s Arthur Avenue section. Indeed, the block upon which the church rests was once owned by Venetian merchant Cesare Alberti, who has the first Italian to settle in what is now New York City.

“If someone visited the area today, one would never know that Italians had lived there,� says Toglia, a retired teacher. “The church remains the only remnant of that era in the community’s past.�

However, says Msgr. Kieran Harrington, spokesperson for the Diocese, the effort is being led by “people who do not live in the community and did not support the church when it was open.� Right before the church closed, only a “handful of parishioners� were attending it. The parish has merged with Presentation parish, whose church is a mere three blocks away.

Saying the church would require a “huge amount of money� to be saved, Harrington added that “it’s a question of where we’re going to put our resources.� Citing the needs of the neighborhood, he said the Diocese is selling the church with an eye toward creating affordable housing on the site. “It’s a non-story,� he commented.

Still, preservationists say the church is indeed worth saving. Although it is not a landmark, it was deemed eligible to be listed on the National Register of national historic sites last year by the New York State Office of Historic Preservation.

Prof. Joseph Scelsa of the Italian-American Museum in Manhattan’s Little Italy says that the building is valuable not only for its architecture, but for its “patrimony.�

“When the Italian-Americans first came to New York, many of those who were here either wouldn’t let the Italians into their churches or put them into basement. So they built their own churches,� says Scelsa. Our Lady of Loreto is one such church.

The museum is sponsoring a program next Wednesday, Feb. 24, in which Toglia and Dr. Marilyn Verna of St. Francis College will discuss “the growing concern of losing such a precious historical site.�

Ann Friedman, director of the Sacred Sites Program of the New York Landmarks Conservancy, says her organization encountered Our Lady of Loreto when it did a survey of all Catholic churches in Brooklyn after the Diocese said it would look at all existing churches with a view toward “realignment� in 2006.

The church is historically significant, she said, for several reasons. One, it is a “very early example of a Catholic church in a high Italian baroque style.� In contrast, most churches in the city are built in a gothic style. “It is not a typical Brooklyn church,� she said.

Also, the church is a very early example of concrete construction used in an artistic way. Concrete, or cast stone, she says, was just coming into use in 1906, and even then, it was usually used as a complement to other materials.

Housing-Cultural Center Plan

The Sacred Sites Program, she says, has helped the preservationists with their plans. These plans include affordable housing nearby and the church building itself being turned into a cultural center and community hall. The advocates have also selected a possible developer, Northeast Brooklyn Housing Development Corp.

The problem, says Ms. Friedman, is money. Even an engineering study, she says, would take $15,000 to $20,000 to complete.

The preservationists have gained the support of state Sen. Diane Savino (D-Bay Ridge/Staten Island), Borough President Marty Markowitz, Assemblyman William Boyland, the Order of Sons of Italy in America, the aforementioned Italian-American Museum, the Brownsville Heritage Center and more.

As for Toglia, he was never a parishioner, but his family came from the Italian village of Calitri, and at one point a society of immigrants from Calitri held many of its religious functions there.

The group had several meetings with the Diocese, beginning in June of last year. They presented their plan for the facility in August.

However, in December, the Diocese wanted confirmation that the group had sufficient funds to restore the church, according to Toglia. Soon afterward, they were informed that the Diocese would sell the building, resulting in its probable demolition.

Sen. Savino says Toglia, “is now looking into why the Diocese blocked the engineering firm from gaining access to the church as agreed. This church is and has always been a source of pride to those Italian-Americans living in Brooklyn.�

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