A Growing Community: Building the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo

By the end of the 1960s, leaders of the Islamic Center of Toledo recognized that the Center’s mosque on E. Bancroft Street was no longer large enough to support and meet the needs of the Toledo area’s growing Muslim population. This prompted the formation of a Building Committee to plan for the construction of a new, larger, and more multifaceted building for the Islamic Center, and in 1978 the Center purchased forty-eight acres of land in the nearby town of Perrysburg to serve as the site of its new mosque. Local Turkish architect Talat Itil designed the new mosque in the classic Islamic architectural style, making it the first of its kind in North America. Ground was broken for the new building in 1980, and construction began in September 1982 and was completed in 1983. The Islamic Center of Greater Toledo officially opened on October 22, 1983.

Building Project Working Group, October 1980.

Eid celebration at Islamic Center of Greater Toledo site. After purchasing the Perrysburg Township property in 1978, Eid was celebrated on the land and prayers were held outside. It was, and still is, a beautiful day.

Unveiling and dedication of the cornerstone of today's Islamic Center of Greater Toledo, October 5, 1980.

Children at the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo groundbreaking, 1980.

Workers place the original dome on the Islamic Center while community members look on, 1983. The original dome, made of plaster, concrete, and Styrofoam, was replaced by an 18,000-pound gold-painted aluminum dome in 2004.

View of construction inside the 65-foot dome, circa 1983.

The grand opening and ribbon-cutting of the Islamic Center, October 22, 1983. It was a spectacular and exciting event.