St. Mathias in Natrona gets 2nd life from father and son with passion for old buildings

Growing up in Lower Burrell, Tom Bertus often visited family in Natrona and can recall the harmonies of the carillon chimes that rang from the bell tower at St. Mathias.

“It was the most beautiful sound,” said Bertus, who with his son, Peter, purchased the 118-year-old vacant building on Pond Street to rescue it from demolition.

The electronic bells, fashioned after those in Germany’s Cathedral of Cologne, “will definitely ring again,” Bertus said.

The pair bought the church, the rectory, the convent and several dilapidated apartment buildings in recent years with an eye toward salvaging pieces of history. They moved from Washington, D.C., after the purchase and have made their home in the rectory that sits next to the church.

“We’re just really interested in old buildings, and, luckily, the church is in relatively good shape,” Peter Bertus said.

There still are cylindrical lanterns, a marble tabernacle and stained-glass windows, minus any religious references.

Large canvases near the altar have been covered, and a crucifix was plucked from above the altar after the church celebrated its final Mass in 2008.

Tom Bertus, a retired contractor, said there’s a general vision for future use as an events center, but he isn’t tied to any one project.

“We’re open to possibilities,” he said. “We just want to maintain it for posterity because they are beautiful structures that shouldn’t be lost.”

The Bertuses’ first priority is rebuilding the cross that hung prominently between the archways at the front of the church and patching the leaks in the 85-foot spire.

Self-taught contractor Peter Bertus spends much of his days rewiring the bell tower for placement of the chimes.

“I just see myself as the caretaker,” he said. “I don’t have specific thoughts for how I want it to look. I just want to invest my time into saving it so people can use the building.”

In all, the 7,000-square-foot space has two floors, Romanesque arches and a vaulted ceiling with chunky wooden beams.

The church opened its doors in 1905 after a Slovak emigration to Natrona. People took up a collection and bought four lots on Pond Street for just under $2,000. Construction cost about $25,000.

The rectory, convent and school came in later years, and the school is known for hosting the first Catholic kindergarten class in the Alle-Kiski Valley in 1949.

The church last underwent major renovations in 1955 to mark its 50th anniversary. At that time, it was decked out with a marble sanctuary and altar carved in Montecatini, Italy.

Bill Godfrey, president of the advocacy group Natrona Comes Together, said he’s thrilled that any historical building is preserved in Natrona.

“Especially our churches, not only for their beauty, but for a lasting legacy,” he said.

St. Mathias was part of a diocesan merger in 1992 in which three Roman Catholic churches in Natrona were consolidated to form St. Joseph Parish.

The church was closed by the diocese in 2007 after mold was found inside the building.

A closing ceremony was held the following year, on the front steps, with the crowd of about 50 spilling into the street.

“All these people that immigrated here and worked and saved to build these beautiful churches, that’s what we have to remember,” Tom Bertus said.

“It’s such a fabric of the community.”

Godfrey said every small town needs more people like the Bertuses, who love history and aging architecture, and help to preserve landmarks.

“The churches in Natrona were the souls of the community. Saving them honors the blood, sweat, tears and history of past generations.

“Once they’re gone, they’re gone.”