From Deseret News archives:
Bell tolls for Provo church
Preservationists miss deadline for funds; developer says deal is dead
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.
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.
Comments
- ATK to cut 800 jobs 6:11 p.m.
- Cops: Artist's son swipes paintings 5:57 p.m.
- Incentives to create new jobs 5:51 p.m.
- Teen to be tried as adult 5:45 p.m.
- Study: 5 steps to creativity 5:44 p.m.
- Former CEO is Entrepreneur of Year 5:40 p.m.
- Calendar of events for December 5:36 p.m.
- New films and special screenings 5:30 p.m.
- Jacksons' reality show feels phony 5:24 p.m.
- Genola: ATVs away from orchards 5:24 p.m.
- Nude bathers cited for lewdness
- Few details on missing W.V. mom
- Jazz fall apart late at L.A.
- Crash landing next to I-15
- I-15 expansion barreling south
- Palin signs books, chats with fans
- BCS = power conference monopoly
- Y.'s Emery bruised, but rarely beaten
- 5 officers lose their certification
- Mutated version of H1N1 found
- Letters: Global warming a lie
254 - TCU to play Boise in Fiesta Bowl
206 - BYU football: Bronco weighs in on Hall
193 - Palin signs books, chats with fans
158 - Cougars going back to Vegas
150 - Utah/BYU rivalry can be more civil
149 - Andersen apologizes for Jordan hoax
142 - Max Hall wants to look ahead
123 - Nude bathers cited for lewdness
117 - Jazz fall apart late at L.A.
106
There was a time when free shipping was rare. This holiday season, you...
Love him or hate him, Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch knows how to get attention.
My wife Lisa and I would prefer never to argue. But that's not going to...
What the heck are you dorks doing harasssing the writer? Have any of you READ...
i think that sloan is too old to even care about the game anymore. He really...
BYU has the right idea here.
Very well said. Whether in a prison cell, or the nut house, Mitchell will...
none things you mentioned create NEW wealth. they are all paid for by...
Aaron Hernandez, Florida win the award? Joke, Joke, Joke, freakin political.
I think Jordan is a good QB and I think that he will only get better,...
"You don't care that her baby was born retarded because she was too busy...
Please cut MITCHEL'S mangy, tangled, skinny, lifeless hair. It looks smelly...
RE: Jon W. | 12:07 p.m. Dec. 7, 2009 The LDS church does supply some of...




You can be the first to comment on this story.