STEELTON: One more elegant and gorgeous Swaminarayan temple is coming up in this country – specifically in north east area of Pennsylvania. A former Roman Catholic school – Prince of Peace Parish School – in Steelton is getting a new life, this time as a Hindu temple.
Prince of Peace Parish School closed in June 2011. Dhanji Mistry of Lewistown purchased the former school and convent at 245-265 Reynders St. in Steelton for $575,000. The property had been on the market since August 2011, Ross said. Originally, it had an asking price of $950,000.
Mistry said his group would renovate the property into a place of worship – a BAPS temple. The group will be moving out of a temple on Locust Lane and into the location on Reynders Street this summer, said Mistry, a member of the temple. BAPS stands for Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, an international socio-spiritual Hindu organization with its roots in the Vedas.
The Reynders Street property consists of three buildings – a school building; a structure that housed a residence and instructional area; and a two-car garage.
The three buildings combine for a total of 24,490 square feet, with the school building, 20,740, making up the majority of it.
Catholic school, which fell under the Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg where Joseph P. McFadden is the Bishop had downed the shutter due to financial hardships and this sale will help the parish finances. Dhanji Mistry is one of the temple project leaders.
Female majority Steelton, incorporated in 1880, on the eastern shore of Susquehanna River, is a borough in Dauphin County. Thomas F. Acri, Jeffery L. Wright and Douglas E. Brown are Mayor, Borough Council President and Borough Secretary respectively of Steelton, whose tagline is “our renaissance continues.” Prominent people associated with it include decorated Lieutenant General Homer Litzenberg and football players Marne Intrieri, Bull Behman, Frank Sinkovitz, John Yovicsin and Troy Drayton.
Welcoming the development, Rajan Zed, president of the Universal Society of Hinduism, said it was important to pass on Hindu spirituality, concepts and traditions to coming generations amidst so many distractions in the consumerist society. Hinduism, oldest and third largest religion of the world, has about one billion adherents.
Offering his best wishes and congratulations, Madhu Patel of NRI Press Club, said that the level of tolerance that the mainstream society in this country extends to the followers of other religions is very admirable and should serve as an eye opener to fundamentalists in other countries and societies.
Nand Kapoor
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