Greek Orthodox regional center will serve as community, administrative space when finished

Local Greek Orthodox churches will soon have a new home for their regional administrative staff that will double as a center of community.

The Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Pittsburgh, a regional district that encompasses Greek Orthodox churches in most of Western and Central Pennsylvania and parts of Ohio and West Virginia, will hold a groundbreaking ceremony at 11 a.m. July 18 to kick off the construction of a new Metropolis Center.

The event will be held at the parking lot at 525 Fairway St. in Washington, Pa., adjacent to the new Metropolis Center site.

According to a release, the center is scheduled to open in 2024. It will encompass 15,000 square feet and include a church, library/conference room, dedicated offices for the Metropolis staff, a multipurpose hall, a fully equipped caterer’s kitchen and an outdoor terrace.

The Metropolis raised upward of $10 million over the past several years for the construction of the building, including a donation of $6 million over five years from the Giorgi Family Foundation in Reading.

Project manager Nick Lekas said the new building will be “transformational” for the Metropolis by providing a location to build community.

“Our faith is based on community, and we believe that we’re saved in community, when we’re all shoulder-to-shoulder worshipping and praying and working and supporting one another in the highs and lows of life,” he said.

“The whole idea that we’re going to have a dining space that will open up to the chapel for feast days is huge, compared to where we are today.”

The new building will make gathering the church district’s leadership easier, said the Rev. Joseph Cervo, priest at Presentation of Christ Church in East Pittsburgh. Currently, Metropoliswide meetings and events are either held at a smaller building in Pittsburgh’s Shadyside neighborhood or scheduled at different churches within the Metropolis.

“There’s not any parking at the old Metropolis center. Any time they have something, even when we have meetings of the priests of the Metropolis, it’s an issue for us to go down there and park,” Cervo said.

“(The new center) will provide the opportunity for the clergy and for people from the parishes to convene there, which is impossible where they’re at now. There are some liturgical celebrations over the course of the year that are generally done in various parishes, because there’s not the facility to have it at the Metropolis.”

Cervo looks forward to attending the groundbreaking ceremony later this month. The planning process for the building dates to 2017 but was delayed by the pandemic, he said.

“There’s a great need there. This is not something that is being done for frivolous cause, this is really a necessity,” he said. “The new center is not going to have a great impact on me personally, but I’m very happy that it is being done, because I realize that it really is a necessity, and it’s going to advance the ministry of the church throughout the Metropolis.”

The new center will also be more conveniently situated for churches on the outer edges of the region, as it sits close to the intersection of Interstates 70 and 79, Lekas said.

“For us who come from parishes as far west as Columbus, Ohio, and as far east as Camp Hill and Harrisburg, that is going to cut the amount of time way down to get to that area,” he said. “It will be a gathering place, that’s what we do.”

Lekas expects the metropolis will work on fundraising further in the upcoming years for decor for the building and an operational endowment fund. Overall, he’s optimistic about the impact of the center.

“We’re so, so lucky to be where we are at this moment, and it will be a great blessing to the communities,” he said.

This story was updated to reflect that the groundbreaking day is July 18.