Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06074/670440.stm

On March 15, 2006 the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported, "After facing what it saw as anti-Muslim sentiment at a public hearing last week, a Turkish organization has dropped its plan to turn a vacant school in South Park into a cultural center... The group will withdraw its application for a permit to turn the old Broughton Elementary School into a facility where members of the Turkish community could adapt to American culture while maintaining Turkish traditions and language. They also planned to worship in one of the classrooms on Friday afternoons. At the public hearing, some residents said they didn't want the cultural center to renovate the school, claiming Islamic centers and mosques can harbor sleeper cells of terrorists... George A. Smith, chairman of the township board of supervisors, tried to focus last Thursday's hearing on zoning issues, but said some speakers made comments that were 'inappropriate'... Some residents accused the group of deception. Others warned that the community needed to limit its vulnerability by not inviting in groups that may harbor terrorists."