St. Teresa of Avila

In an effort to re-boot this blog, thought we would play catch-up with one of the biggest stories of the last six months in our neighborhood: the confirmed closing of St. Teresa of Avila church.

As the Times Union reported over Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, St. Teresa will be one of 33 worship sites that will be closed all around the Albany Diocese, an issue that will greatly impact cities and their neighborhoods.

As TU writer Marc Parry reported:

“The closure of so many neighborhood landmarks isn't just a Catholic issue. Empty churches create ‘a hole in our community,’ said Lynn Kopka, a non-Catholic who heads the Troy's Washington Park Association.”

Obviously, the church means more than Sunday worship. Check out writer Scott Waldman's story and Skip Dickstein's photos in the Times Union story from February about the 35th — and final — basketball tournament at St. Teresa of Avila school on the corner of New Scotland and Hollywood avenues.

According to the story, the school is 81 years old, with the newer building built in 1957. As Waldman writes: “The tournament began at a time when many neighborhoods could still support their own Catholic schools. The student body at the squat brick building on New Scotland Avenue shrank as families moved to the suburbs.”