Below is still another example of what has become a continuing series, of a "Rinascimento of Italian Ethnicity", and a "reclaiming" of lost Heritage and Culture.

This time in Salt Lake City, UT. Who would have thought???

Therefore, although Prof. Alba, wrote: "The Twilight of Ethnicity...the Case of Italians"
(in 1885), as Mark Twain claimed... "the report of my death is an exaggeration".

Adriano Comollo, missed Italian camaraderie, and persuaded Tony Caputo, owner of a Market and Deli to donate adjacent space to open a Cultural Center to house a language school, a small library, show Italian TV programs via satellite, stage art shows, book groups, cooking clubs, and holds film festivals.

Caputo also envisions an Ellis Island experience in which the center would display photographs and tell the history of Utah's Italian immigrants.

Coinciding with the center's opening, Salt Lake City is replacing Pioneer Park's volleyball courts with three boccie ball courts.

The 2000 census shows there are 25,500 Italian-Americans in Salt Lake County,
with several Italian organizations in the valley.

Bravo Adriano and Tony!!!!
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NEW CENTER AIMS TO UNITE ITALIANS

The Salt Lake Tribune
By Heather May
Wednesday, May 12, 2004

If Adriano Comollo had settled in San Francisco when he left Italy instead of Salt Lake City, he might be attending activities at that city's Italian center, instead of creating them here.

He left his home in Turin two decades ago. Now, he's bringing some of his homeland -- and not just the cuisine -- to the western edges of downtown.

On Thursday, Utah's first Italian Center will open across the street from Pioneer Park. It is a fitting place. The neighborhood historically housed a Little Italy and is now a tony district whose recent revitalization started, in part, with the opening of an Italian deli and market.

"It is like virgin land," Comollo says of Utah, with a thick Italian cadence. "There is room to do some pioneer job."

The center will open in warehouse space at 314 W. 300 South donated by Tony Caputo, owner of the adjacent market and deli.

While there are several Italian organizations in the valley, there is no gathering space -- no equivalent of the Greek community's Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, which also is in the neighborhood.

"My wife's Greek," Caputo says. "You know what a cohesive community they have. I'm Italian. The Italians aren't like that. It would be nice if [the Italian Center created] just a fraction of how cohesive and tightknit a group" the Greeks are.

Comollo is adamant that the center highlight more than food. He says he visited San Francisco's Istituto Italiano di Cultura, which has a language school and holds film festivals, according to its Web site. The California institute will loan Comollo movies and documentaries.

He also anticipates that the Utah center will have a small library, show Italian TV programs via satellite and stage art shows, book groups and cooking clubs. The Italian-language teacher already has launched language classes.

Coinciding with the center's opening, Salt Lake City is replacing Pioneer Park's volleyball courts with three temporary boccie ball courts. The Italian community is committed to raising $1,000 for the courts. Val Pope, director of parks, says the city will cover the rest of the $2,000 to $3,000 tab.

Boccie is an Italian game described as a mix between bowling and curling.

Caputo also envisions an Ellis Island experience in which the center would display photographs and tell the history of Utah's Italian immigrants.

And there are many. Italians made up one of the largest groups of immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe when they came between the 1890s and 1920s to labor as miners and railroad workers, according to the Utah History Encyclopedia's Web site. The 2000 census shows there are 25,500 Italian-Americans in Salt Lake County.

The Italian District was one of several ethnic neighborhoods that grew around the railroad tracks. There were Italian saloons, grocery stores, tailor shops and newspapers. The districts broke up after World War I and the neighborhood deteriorated.

hmay@sltrib.com

The Salt Lake Tribune -- New center aims to unite Italians
http://www.sltrib.com/2004/May/05122004/utah/165669.asp