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.

Ford, the developer's attorney, then called and, on speakerphone, informed Bush and a dozen other members of the foundation that time had run out.

Ford said later that he was never told there was a software glitch or transfer problem. He said he was told that the foundation had an issue with the title to the land and wanted to extend the deadline to this morning.

"They promised they had the money (Wednesday)," Ford said. "They promised they had the money (Thursday) and said they would be there to close. After more than 45 minutes, the money still wasn't there and my client was unwilling to give them more time. Landmark Partners was prepared to move aside and allow them to save the building. Unfortunately, they were unable to perform."

There is still a chance the building might be saved. Landmark Partners has until May 31 to close its deal with the church for $1.2 million, but other groups are making offers to Landmark Partners.

"We've been approached by multiple parties," Ford said. "We have no more assurance they could perform than this group did. If and when somebody came with cash on the table, we'd listen to them. We'll no longer delay our progress hoping somebody will come through."

Ford strongly criticized the foundation.

"I'm just so frustrated with the way the community group handled this," he said. "The Catholic Church and Landmark Partners feel lied to every step of the way."

Foundation members similarly panned Landmark Partners, saying they felt the deal was set up to fail.

"We came expecting to deal in good faith and that certainly doesn't appear to be the case," Bush said.

Members of the foundation's board put up their private property as collateral for part of the loan.

"Herculean efforts were made to pull this together," Bush said. "I'm sick at heart. I just know how hard people worked, and as a foundation we tried our best to represent them."

Bush said the foundation will return the money it raised to donors unless they ask that it be kept to use on future projects.

Provo Mayor Lewis Billings had brokered the deal during the City Council meeting on April 3.

"The good news was people were wiling to compromise sufficiently so everyone had a way to achieve what they wanted to achieve," he said. "If the implementation of that hasn't been able to be achieved, I still compliment all parties because everyone had a chance."

---

E-mail: twalch@desnews.com