High priced Kingdom Halls (page 3)

Jerry Blavett

In Reply to Lisa-Name Already Modified-Thanks!

great post Jerry and I can tell that
I went through the same experience. BTW, after all the
material, the work and the upkeeping ..."Donations "(!!!)
to the local branch are still given, after 17 years!

Agape, J.C.MacHislopp

jschwehm

Hi Jerry-

Interesting comments.

About 10 years ago, the congregation that I belonged to in Covington, LA was told that they needed to build a new Kingdom Hall. I was becoming inactive at the time, but I had the feeling that the CO, A guy by the name of John Mason, was really pushing this off on the congregation. You see, the congregation had paid off the old Kingdom Hall and the cost of building a new one was going to be rather high. I could tell that some of the elders were not particularly thrilled with the idea of building a new hall.

There were some other issues involved but eventually the entire body of elders was removed and a new set of elders from neighboring congregations were brought in to run the show. These guys were handpicked by the Mason. I wonder if part of the reason why they were removed was because some in the elder body were not all that happy about building the new Kingdom Hall.

Also, my father did the accounts and I would say, if I remember correctly, that the congregations that met in the new Kingdom Hall really struggled to pay the note on the loan for the Hall. They were behind in their payments for years. I think they eventually caught up but it was a real struggle there for a long time.

Also, when I was at Bethel, the whole CoHi thing was very interesting.

Jeff S.

outnfree

Jeff,

Did I miss something on this thread?

Also, when I was at Bethel, the whole CoHi thing was very interesting

What is "CoHi" secret code for, please?

outnfree

jschwehm

Hi-

CoHi was a group of wealthy JWs who bought the Standish and Bossert Hotels and then donated them to the Society. They did this because the neighborhood in Brooklyn does not want the Society to buy up more property. It is my understanding the CoHi did not tell the sellers that they were associated with the JWs and bought the property and allowed the Society to use the properties and then CoHi eventually gave the property to the Society I think.

Jeff S.

outnfree

Seriously?!
Rather deceitful, don't ya think?
Of course, that's the feeling I've gotten anytime I wrote to the boys in Brooklyn, so I'm not surprised that they would resort to something like a "front" buying up real estate.
And to think that I was actually at a party at the Bossert and didn't know the tainted history!
No wonder the neighbors in Brooklyn Heights dislike the Society so adamantly.
Thanks for the insight, Jeff!
outnfree

Frenchy

I've participated in several Quick Builds but I have never been on the RBC nor have I been in a congregation where a new hall was built. As I stated earlier I have long suspected that a lot of the money that is spent on the materials goes to brothers who then send a goodly portion of this to the Society. I don't know, however, and I'm asking you fellas that are posting on this subject what you know about the matter.

-Seen it all, done it all, can't remember most of it-

Jerry Blavett

Typical Situation:

*Congregation pays for new property from sale of previous building
property

*Society loans 210,000.00 for building worth 105,000.00

*Congregation PAYS SOCIETY 210,000.00 at 3% interest

Xandit

Frenchy you won't get any information supporting some of the statements that have been made. Because this stuff is once again just being made up. I don't know why people go to the trouble because ther's plenty of real stuff to talk about.

I've been closely associated with a number of Quick Builds and generally speaking they are built pretty economically. Anyone who suggests that a General Contractor could build one for half the price has obviously never built so much as a chicken coop. The bulk of the materials are locally purchased on a competitive bid basis, most of the time you get the reduced rate for charitable organizations and churches. Some stuff does come in from suppliers elsewhere. I know some of those people personally and they are providing the goods at just over cost, just a minimum handling charge is tacked on. Occasionally some of the specifications seem a bit overblown, and yeah you could get something cheaper down at WalMart but usually you get what you pay for. There's also the matter of code compliance. At least in the US, all the standard designs are prepared with the intent of meeting all local building codes, even the most stringent. That may drive the price up a little bit in some areas with less demanding standards.

There's nothing to find here. As far as I can tell, financial malfeasance in non-existant on an organizational level however some local building committees have taken a few liberties, that's why most of the financial matters have been taken out of their hands.

slipnslidemaster

The Geeter with the Heater?

I don't think that he's using his real name.

High priced Kingdom Halls

-Seen it all, done it all, can't remember most of it-

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