Las Vegas man offers to save sanctuary

Thursday, Dec. 7, 2000 | 4:59 a.m.

Joseph Affatato said he has formed a group and has the money to pay back taxes and unpaid utility bills on the site, which he called a "special place where people can find comfort in religion."

Affatato said he decided to raise the money after reading an Associated Press story about the sanctuary in his local newspaper.

"We've gotten the money together and don't mind paying what is owed as long as the city doesn't turn around and condemn the property and throw the older man, who has worked so hard on the site, out," Affatato said Wednesday.

Sal Verdirome, 80, started building the sanctuary 30 years ago after receiving what he said was a prophetic vision.

Verdirome was a carpenter at Electric Boat, the submarine shipyard in Groton. He built the sanctuary over the years, hauling the oval bathtubs up the hill and half burying them, upended, so that a statue could be sheltered inside.

Each bathtub is painted swimming-pool blue on the outside and white on the inside, to set off hand-painted statues of the Virgin Mary, saints and angels.

Other statuary abounds: the lion lies down with the lamb, the magi visit the Christ child and Jesus bleeds under a crown of thorns.

Concrete steps and ramps decorated with mosaic stars and crosses wind through the display. Verdirome etched sayings into the paths such as: "May the blessings of the Lord be with you."

Other walkways are surrounded by hand-laid brickwork and covered with white marble slabs.

One side of the sanctuary features a rendition of the sea of glass foretold in the book of Revelation, with statues to represent the mystical beasts that sit before God's throne.

The sea is made of chunks of greenish-blue glass that Verdirome got from a thermos factory.

City Manager William Tallman, and Aldermen Todd Postler and Robert Booth toured the property Wednesday afternoon and left somewhat perplexed about what the city should do.

City officials considered asking Corporation Counsel Konstant Morell to postpone the foreclosure, while the city identified its options. Tallman said he would speak to Affatato soon to find out what steps could be taken to ensure the city and utility company are paid and the site is improved and maintained.

"This is a very unique situation for the city and it calls for a creative solution. We have to give this serious thought and attempt to solve the problem in a way that is fair to the city, the neighbors and the property owner," Tallman said.

The foreclosure papers are scheduled to be filed after Jan. 1.

"It would be a shame to destroy something someone put so much work into," Angelopoulos said.