When Bosnian refugees arrived in St. Louis in the mid-1990s, they made do with a temporary mosque in a building in midtown several miles from their homes in the Bevo area.

In 2001 they finally found a building - the former South Side National Bank branch at 4666 Landsdowne Avenue, now known as the Islamic Community Center.

This summer, the center is expanding, and its leaders hope to erect a minaret high above their place of worship. Minarets are the tall, narrow towers that are used to call Muslims to prayer. Imam Muhamed Hasic says having one will be less useful in its traditional purpose than its symbolic power.

"Everyone will know that we are a mosque," said Hasic.

The center holds regular prayer services and provides religious instruction for children and adults. Only a minority of Bosnian immigrants are regulars at religious service, but Hasic said the mosque is working to fill spiritual needs and overcome the decades of communist opposition to religion back home.

On Fridays, the weekly holy day, about 250 to 300 Muslims take part in prayer. On the day after the annual fast of Ramadan, 2,000 attend, Hasic said.