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Show Church Efforts Fail to Find Land for Disputed Building TROPIC - With today the deadline for removing the highly disputed Marshall Building adjacent to Bryce Valley High School to another lot, an explosive situation is in the air as persons attempting to save the building have been unable to secure property on which to place the structure. Several property owners in Tropic have rejected a request of officials of the Assembly of God Church group, which has purchased the building and want to use it as a worship service building. In latest interviews concerning the ongoing dispute over ownership of the building Garfield County School Superintendent Henry Jolley stated he had no comment. His opponent in the disagreement, the Tropic Assembly of God Church, represented by Mrs. Marvin Shakespear, indicated a "regretful and unfortunate turn of events" in the acquisition of the property on which her church planned to move the building in question. She said that, "At the present time and with the fast aproaching deadline it appears the Tropic members of the Assembly of God Church will be unable to meet the requirements of the ad placed by the school district in having the building removed by the deadline date of May 31." Emphasizing that the inability to meet the requirement of the ad was not due in any way with action taken directly by the school district but rather with unforeseen obstacles which ultimately blocked purchase of property in Tropic on which the church building was to have been placed. In seeking to acquire property on which to locate the building, Shakespear stated that they "had been turned down repeatedly, with some residents refusing sale simply because an Assembly of God Church was to have been placed on the site." After repeated attempts to secure property, an available piece of land was found and verbal agreement with the seller was reached. The seller had full knowledge of the intent of the church members to establish a foothold in the community. Arrangements were made with Pastor Willard Coleman, Richfield, through whose assistance to move the building was obtained from interested parties in Salt Lake City who had offered manpower and equipment. However, only a few days prior to removal deadline of the building in question, when sellers were approached to sign a legalcontract, they refused stating that due to outside pressure against use of the property by the Assembly of God Church they were compelled to withdraw their previous offer. With virtually no time remaining and no leads on additional parcels of land which might be considered for purchase by the church membership, hopes and dreams for the future of a meeting house for the Assembly of God Church in Tropic have come to a standstill. Members, however, are still attempting to put together some course of action in order to keep original agreement with Tropic resident George Wilson. Upon hearing of their plight, Wilson had generously offered to refund all monies invested by the church, however, members expressed, "It would be a shame for Wilson to suffer any loss in this situation as he has been totally honest and forthright in all dealings with their organization." Assembly of God spokesperson, Mrs. Shakespear added in final comment, "We hope the attitued evidenced in the difficulties encountered in Tropic were not truly representative of the feelings of the community at large." |