Like many others, Don Gildea of Lansford has plenty of memories at St. Ann's Church, both in religion and education.

"I went to school there, Class of 1950, St. Ann's High School," says Gildea, as he stands just steps away from a falling landmark in the heart of town.Over the years, Gildea saw plenty of changes at the church, including a decline in membership."People were dying off," he said.Gildea joined others on Tuesday in watching a brick church being pushed down as if made of Legos, all of the time reflecting on glory days in the Panther Valley.Renee Mariotti Novak of Lansford, an artist, recalled special occasions celebrated at the church and even work she had accomplished for previous priests."I'm very saddened. I was married here and had confirmation here. I also believe I was baptized here," she said. She spoke of using her artist's brush to add gold flake, or gold leaf, detailing to the icons of the Stations of the Cross."I think they were later redone at some point," she said.Demolition workers hoped a large, ornate cross atop St. Ann's Church would fall safely and possibly be salvaged.But that didn't happen.After a swing of the boom of heavy equipment, the Celtic-style cross came crashing down into rubble and was badly bent."It'll be crushed up and scrapped," said Frank Martin of Kutztown. Martin is employed by The Building Recyclers. The hollow cross will bring a few dollars as scrap copper but would've carried much greater value if it had fallen intact, said Martin.RecyclingThe recycling firm has a full crew on site, making short order of the 1911 church that stood as a house of worship and landmark in Lansford for a century.A few similar crosses adorn the front of the church, too. At least one of those appears to have been replated over the years. That one will be addressed later, said Martin.Another worker, Scott Wampole of Fleetwood, said the crew is making sure the operation is as green as possible.Ninety percent (of the material) will be recycled," he said. "It doesn't go to a landfill. Some will be used as clean fill and some will be used as fill for the basement."St. Ann's is one of 47 Allentown Diocese churches that closed in 2008.The congregation merged with the parishes of SS. Peter and Paul and St. Michael the Archangel in Lansford, as well as St. John the Baptist, St. Mary's and SS. Cyril and Methodius in Coaldale to become St. Katharine Drexel in the former St. Michael's church.Martin acknowledged that St. Michael's, too, is on the demolition list of the diocese.Others already razed include SS. Peter and Paul in Lansford, St. Stanislaus in Summit Hill and Sacred Heart in Nesquehoning.Watching the proceedings was former police chief and current Councilman John Turcmanovich, who wanted to be on hand for the final steps.Turcmanovich witnessed the 2009 disinterment of the body of the Rev. Leo Fahey, who was buried on St. Ann's grounds in 1919.Fahey's remains were exhumed and reinterred at Immaculate Conception Cemetery in Jim Thorpe.The razing of St. Ann's will continue into next week.Among other churches on the list for demolition is Gothic-style St. Katharine Drexel, known by many as the former St. Michael's.The demolition schedule has been enacted by the diocese despite pleas and protests by the faithful and others concerned about the community's loss of irreplaceable landmarks of religion, heritage and culture.