CHURCH'S TIME BEGINS ANEW

by Jay Tokasz, Buffalo News May 18, 2004

Over the years, Mother Nature took her toll on Father Time at St. Stanislaus Catholic Church, but the clocks are coming back, with the blessing of the Rev. Edward M. Grosz, auxiliary bishop of Buffalo and pastor of the parish.  After his blessing Monday afternoon, work crews used a 200-foot crane to begin hoisting eight new clock faces onto the Townsend Street church's two stone towers. The old clocks were damaged by severe weather several years ago.  The new clocks, 61/2 feet in diameter, are part of a rejuvenation of the 122-year-old church and affiliated buildings.

New clocks ride 150 ft to a new home atop the St. Stan's steeple.

The clocks and bells cost about $165,000, he said. Soon, three sides of the gray stone walls of the Romanesque church will be illuminated at night, as will the towers and clock faces.

During its heyday, the church had as many as 20,000 parishioners. At present, there are only about 600 families, but the improvements indicate that the parish has plenty of vitality, said parishioner Martin Biniasz. "It's showing people that there's life, there's energy, and we're moving forward," he said.  The towers of St. Stanislaus Church rise more than 200 feet, dominating the skyline in the Broadway-Fillmore neighborhood. Soon, people will only need to look up to know what time it is, Biniasz said, so they'll no longer have an excuse for being late to Mass.