(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - A borough along the Parkway West historically known for its religious and cultural diversity may soon cement that image with the addition of a mosque.
At least that is the hope of Carnegie officials and the leader of a Muslim mosque looking to move into a former Presbyterian church in the heart of the town's quaint business district. A public hearing will be conducted Monday evening, followed by a council vote on a zoning change needed to establish the mosque.
"Adding our center there will make Carnegie a center for the three Abrahamic religions," Al-Walid Mohsen, vice president and manager of Attawheed Islamic Center, said of the Christian, Jewish and Islamic faiths. "Maybe that will make a good name for Carnegie."
The addition of a mosque in the town of roughly 8,000 would be positive, said Rick D'Loss, a council member and president of Carnegie's synagogue, Congregation Ahavath Achim.
"It could make Carnegie an example of coexistence," D'Loss said.
He said he has not heard any complaints from residents about the plans for a mosque, but admitted that few people likely know.
Joe Enzerra, for instance, had not heard of it.
"I don't think it's a big deal at all," Enzerra, 64, of Carnegie said as he waited for a bus in front of the former church.
Rebecca Sohn, owner of Black Lamb Consignments across East Main Street from the former church, said she would welcome the mosque as a neighbor.
"Anything that restores vibrancy and brings diversity to a community is a good thing," she said.
Mohsen, an Egyptian native who is an assistant professor of research and lab supervisor at Children's Hospital in Lawrenceville, said Attawheed has rented various spaces since being founded in the mid-1990s. Currently, the center rents space on the second floor of an office building on Banksville Road in Beechview. It offers prayer services each night and on Friday afternoons and holds Sunday school classes.
The Carnegie location would allow the center to hold classes and lectures as well as larger prayer services, Mohsen said. About 100 people attend Friday services, he said.
Even with council approval, Mohsen said it is not clear when the group would move into the former United Presbyterian Church, which was built in 1890. He said the 19,000-square-foot stone and brick building needs extensive repairs, including a new roof.
Mohsen did not say how much Attawheed is paying for the building. County real estate records show it last sold in 2003 for $350,000. Its value today is listed at $264,000.
The building was last home to Rosario's Banquet Hall and has been vacant for at least a year, said Jeffrey Harbin, the borough's manager and police chief.
The planning commission on May 17 recommended that council approve plans to convert it into a mosque.
"We have a long history of acceptance," Harbin said. "We accept people of all faiths and pride ourselves on our diversity."
The borough's skyline is dotted by gold and blue onion domes of Ukrainian and Russian Orthodox churches, reminders of an influx of Eastern European immigrants more than 100 years ago. Steeples and bell towers of other churches -- including Methodist, Lutheran and Catholic -- rise above the town.
Carnegie once was home to more than 30 churches and many bars, D'Loss said. Another former Presbyterian church is now a nightclub and restaurant, and council last year approved a group's plans to convert a former Catholic church into the Karma Cultural Center, which will include an Indian restaurant, banquet hall and a dance studio.
D'Loss estimated about 25 churches remain, with even fewer bars.
"It's going to be a new phase in the history of Carnegie," he said.
