Gothard headquarters downsizing, moving to Big Sandy

[Sundaymorning]

Thanks Peas n carrots!! Do you think alot of their residential properties will be purchased for tear-downs?

Man, Big Sandy-area Realtors must be salivating over this move.

Big Sandy only has 1,200 residents (the whole county has 39,000)-- the Gothard refugees, with all their dependents, could increase the population by 10%, easy.

I feel very sorry for every sane person living there. They now will have even more lunatic fundies in their town. I just hope the Gothardites don't try to do stupid things like taking over local politics and such.

I remember that once the cult of a crazy lady named Uriella moved to a small town in Germany and tried such shenanigans, the locals were not happy to say at least.

[Peas n carrots]

Thanks Peas n carrots!! Do you think alot of their residential properties will be purchased for tear-downs?

Man, Big Sandy-area Realtors must be salivating over this move.

Big Sandy only has 1,200 residents (the whole county has 39,000)-- the Gothard refugees, with all their dependents, could increase the population by 10%, easy.

I'm sure the homes will be tear downs as well as some of the other IBLP campus buildings (the ones of Adams). If you google earth the area you can see what I'm talking about - that is one the wealthiest zip codes in the US. I imagine a single developer coming in, buying out all the properties and try to buy out the few non-IBLP owners sprinkled in and redeveloping it into an exclusive community. Or, as it's right off a major highway, an office park.

[Pennyrose]

I feel very sorry for every sane person living there. They now will have even more lunatic fundies in their town. I just hope the Gothardites don't try to do stupid things like taking over local politics and such.

You know what, I bet they do just that. Not necessarily en-mass and with the intent of a takeover, but just by being inclined towards activism, volunteering, and finding public service and political work more acceptable for headships that can't/won't run their own businesses than other work.

I can easily see some joining parents groups, the volunteer fire dept, police dept (like one of the Duggers - Joseph I think - is a volunteer deputy or something, and Zach Bates is a police officer), various community committees and boards, getting active in local politics, and so on.

(Which would normally be a great thing, we should all participate in our communities in that fashion. But when it's people with their particular beliefs (or any too extreme and uncompromising views for that matter), being that active in the community has the potential to be very problematic.)

[danvillebelle]

There is no way Big Sandy (or Hawkins, or Grand Saline, or any of the surrounding tiny towns) could handle a big influx of people. The houses are simply not there. A lot of them will probably live in Tyler and Longview, if they move here.

As for entering politics...we already have batshit crazy here, remember, this is the land of Louie Gohmert. :roll:

[SilverBeach]

Ugh, I attended several events at the Drake Oakbrook years ago.

[HereticHick]

Recently discovered that Gothard sold off another property this spring:

 

THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS

March 24, 2015 Tuesday
Historic hotel to be restored
BYLINE: STEVE BROWN, REAL ESTATE EDITOR
SECTION: BUSINESS; Pg. D05

Developers have purchased a century-old Dallas hotel with plans to restore the property.

The landmark Ambassador Hotel is just south of downtown and is one of the city's oldest residential hotels.

A partnership led by developer Jim Lake Jr. bought the 6-story building on South Ervay Street.

The hotel is next to Dallas Heritage Village Park and is in the Cedars neighborhood that is seeing redevelopment.

The Ambassador has been owned for 20 years by a Christian organization, Institute in Basic Life Principles, which sold the property to Ambassador Hotel Partners L.P.

The new owners plan to restore the building with a mix of hotel rooms and apartments.

Lake said construction should start late this year or in early 2016.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Also, did we already know about this sale?:

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Little Rock)

February 23, 2014 Sunday

REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS

SECTION: BUSINESS

LENGTH: 919 words

Pulaski County real estate transactions of $150,000 or more; deeds recorded Jan. 27 to Jan. 31:

 Institute in Basic Life Principles to Greater Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church, Blk 36, Braggs 2nd, $330,000.

 

[HereticHick]

Props to Peas and Carrots for referring to "expectant lawsuits!!!  https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/10/22/five-women-sue-bill-gothards-ministry-that-has-ties-to-the-duggars/

[FormerlyFundyLite]

Smack dab in the middle of this pic is "8 Pine." Interestingly enough, 8 Pine Hill is not a "real" address. I have only been able to find one of the addresses on DuPage County's site, "4 Cheval" which is either the Pecan's house or one next to it, I believe. So "compound" is a pretty accurate term of what's going on back there. And yeah, the home that they say is Gothard's on that blog is definitely not back there.

 

....binged.it/1MpTuKn...

It looks like "8 Pine" refers to 8 Pine Hill Ln: https://www.google.com/maps/place/8+Pinehill+Ln,+Oak+Brook,+IL+60523/@41.815211,-87.945115,3a,66.8y,6.88h,87.86t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1swk5wgJZuLjfJl_8NtSC5AQ!2e0!4m2!3m1!1s0x880e4ea591a803cd:0x81dca97c5251b516

[formergothardite]

The Ambassador Hotel in Dallas was the one where EXCEL was always held. It is an amazingly beautiful old building(and before the Institute bought it it was once used in a Walker Texas Ranger episode. ) and I hope it is well taken care of now. I think IBLP had pretty much abandoned it in recent years. 

[HereticHick]

What about this former hospital in Nashville that just went on the market a couple of weeks ago?  http://crye-leike.catylist.com/listing/29555431/612-Due-West-Avenue-Madison-TN-37115

Various websites & news articles say that Gothard acquired it in 2003--and it was a gift to Gothard from Hobby Lobby!!

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/stories/2003/06/09/story1.html

6/09/2003

"The empty Nashville Memorial Hospital in Madison is set to become part of a worldwide quasi-religious organization.
After a little more than a year on the market, the vacant hospital at 610 Due West Ave. and the surrounding 41 acres have been sold to Oklahoma City-based Hobby Lobby, which plans to hand the keys over to Bill Gothard and the Illinois nonprofit he runs.
Hobby Lobby has paid $3.5 million in cash to buy the property from PNL Nashville LLC, a group of individual real estate investors in Florida, Texas and Tennessee. The seller also received an unspecified amount of insurance proceeds for flood damage.
Rather than raze the facility and turn it into an arts and crafts retail destination, Hobby Lobby has given the nearly 300,000-square-foot hospital and land to Oak Brook, Ill.-based Institute in Basic Life Principles. Steve Green, Holly Lobby's executive vice president, could not be reached for comment.
Gothard, 68, plans to turn the hospital into what he calls the International Institute for Health and Research. However, he would not disclose details of the plan yet."