Bell tolls for Provo church

Preservationists miss deadline for funds; developer says deal is dead

Published: Friday, April 20, 2007 12:45 a.m. MDT
 |  E-MAIL | PRINT | FONT + - 
PROVO — The money didn't get to the church on time.

The local preservationists who hoped to save and renovate Provo's historic Spanish Mission-style Catholic Church building claimed they had $1.3 million in escrow at 5 p.m. Thursday night, but they couldn't transfer the funds to complete the purchase by that time, and the church now may be demolished.

The developer who has an option to buy the building from the Catholic Church declared the deal dead. He refused to give the Historic Provo Preservation Foundation another day and plans to tear down the building to make way for condominiums.

The failure to meet the 5 p.m. deadline leaves the building vulnerable to demolition. It had been protected on the Provo Landmarks Register, but it was removed automatically from the register when the deal collapsed.

The developer will apply for a demolition permit, perhaps as early as Monday, said the attorney for Landmark Partners, Adam Ford. City offices are closed today.

A complex deal hatched at the April 3 Provo City Council meeting and hailed as a miracle had appeared to save the church building, built in 1923.

The preservation foundation agreed to pay $1.25 million by Thursday's deadline, with $50,000 going to Landmark Partners and $1.2 million going to the church, which needs the cash to construct a new church in Orem for the St. Francis of Assisi Parish.

Story continues below

In return for the extra 16 days to wire the funds or produce a cashier's check — foundation officials indicated during the City Council meeting they had the money. The preservationists agreed that if they failed to meet the deadline, they wouldn't sue to stop demolition.

With that agreement in place, the City Council voted to keep the building on the landmarks register until Thursday, instead of removing it on April 3 but stipulated that the building would be removed automatically if the deadline passed without a sale.

Foundation Chairman Doug Bush said Thursday night that the group would stick by its promise not to obstruct demolition, despite accusations by both sides that the deadline passed because the other side failed to act in good faith.

Bush and other group members, including Timpanogos Neighborhood Chairman Scott Bingham, arrived at a Provo title company just before the deadline. They were angry that they had learned 90 minutes earlier that the church wouldn't let them use the building as collateral for a loan they had secured to make up the difference between the purchase price and what they had raised.

That seemed to scuttle the deal, but Bush emerged from the meeting later to say it had been resurrected. The rollercoaster ride ended when Bush said a software glitch at another title company made it impossible to transfer the funds.

Comments

You can be the first to comment on this story.

Image
Jason Olson, Deseret Morning News

A Spanish Mission-style Catholic church in Provo, built in 1923, may be replaced by condos.

previousnext

Latest comments

This is a tragedy. I don't understand how this could've been going on for 2...

Was impressed with Gay's run today; can't wait for world championships to...

Pratty Was more than a father to me. I looked up to him so much. He made me...

Love you Millie, but you are not worth that much. If the Jazz match this...

If the Jazz want to get better and not be a so so team every year, it has to...

Fedor is right. I loved Millsap and don't blame him at all for signing the...

For those of you who are advocating that the Jazz let Milsap walk cause the...

Go get Drew Gooden who is unrestricted, and will be a better fit for a backup...

Longing for world championships to start. Gay/Bolt/Powell matchup will be the...

The contract offered to Milsap is similar to the original one the Jazz gave...

Advertisements