ST. LOUIS 鈥 Monsignor Sal Polizzi, whose efforts to organize and preserve The Hill neighborhood in the city gained national attention in the 1970s, died Monday night at Mother of Good Counsel nursing home in Northwoods. He was 92.
Polizzi, while associate pastor of St. Ambrose Catholic Church, was a founder of The Hill 2000 booster organization still active today in the heavily Italian-American enclave.
In 1981, Polizzi was a few miles north to St. Roch Catholic Church in the Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhood, where he was pastor until his death. He also was active in community revitalization efforts there.
But it was on The Hill where Polizzi made his name. In 1971, he played a key role in community efforts that, against all odds, got federal officials to approve an overpass connecting two parts of the neighborhood that would have been split by the new Interstate 44.
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Three years later, because of that push and his other fights to maintain the area, he was chosen by Time magazine as one of America鈥檚 100 most promising leaders.
Among his other efforts was working to stop a proposed drive-in theater. The Hill 2000 group under his tutelage was involved in initiatives such as planting trees, opening a day care facility and youth centers and building a park.
鈥淭he Hill is where it is today because of him,鈥 said Joe Vollmer, the neighborhood鈥檚 longtime alderman. 鈥淭o make this continue, there has to be a plan. No one else saw that. He was in charge.鈥
Vollmer said among other things, Polizzi would match people interested in living on The Hill with houses becoming available. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what kept continuity,鈥 Vollmer said.
Joe DeGregorio of south 狐狸视频 County, who grew up on The Hill and gives tours of the area, said Polizzi was a catalyst for spurring 鈥減ride in our Italian heritage鈥 and 鈥渋n keeping up the neighborhood and making it safe.鈥
He said he and others hope to get a plaque in his honor installed at the overpass.
Polizzi, in a Post-Dispatch interview in 1980, explained his triangle approach to organizing: 鈥淭he church, the elected officials and the people of the neighborhood, all working together.鈥
Salvatore Polizzi, one of 11 children of Sicilian immigrants, grew up in the now-defunct Italian neighborhood north of downtown 狐狸视频. He went to 狐狸视频 Preparatory Seminary and Kenrick Seminary and was ordained in 1956.
He later earned a master鈥檚 degree in urban planning at 狐狸视频 University and was the first priest to receive the school鈥檚 alumni merit award.
He was first assigned to St. Ambrose from 1956 to 1959, then was associate pastor at the old St. Catherine of Alexandria Church in north 狐狸视频 County before serving again at St. Ambrose from 1964 to 1981.
At St. Roch, a longtime friend said, he worked to stabilize housing and was known for offering scholarships at the parish school. He was a founding member of Operation Food Search and was a former member of the boards of the city Land Reutilization Authority and the old 狐狸视频 Regional Medical Center.
Among his survivors are a sister, Patricia Daher of Creve Coeur.
Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Monday at St. Roch Church, 6052 Waterman Boulevard, and from about 8:45 a.m. to 9:50 a.m. Tuesday at the Cathedral Basilica of 狐狸视频, 4431 Lindell Boulevard. The funeral Mass will be celebrated at the cathedral at 10 a.m. Tuesday. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery.
During the 1970s聽the Rev. Salvatore E. Polizzi had become a national figure for his work in The Hill neighborhood of 狐狸视频. Residents were shocked when news came that he was being reassigned.聽