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Indiana Campus Auction


Shellon
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I think it's funny that the auction inventory sounds a lot like everything twi had there...

What did they do?...cut and run and leave all their stuff behind? Ha ha ha

It's all part of circling the wagons...If I were Rosie, I would sell off that god awful property in Ohio and move the whole shebang to Gunnison...and simply retire.

All she is doing now is meeting the legal requirments for the IRS to maintain their tax exempt status.

I would suspect as they grow even older, they would downsize more...the days of having any

"vision"...are long dead.

Edited by GrouchoMarxJr
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It's all part of circling the wagons...If I were Rosie, I would sell off that god awful property in Ohio and move the whole shebang to Gunnison...and simply retire.

If they did that, then that map mural thingy in the WOW auditorium wouldn't be any good anymore! They'd have to make one where the "word waves" would radiate (weakly) from Colorado instead. Uh-oh!

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I found this:

http://www.oltiv.org/2010/08/fascinating-rome-city-site-going-on.html

I hope that works. I've never posted a link in here before.

I found it by putting the Rome City address in Google.

Anyway, how much of this stuff is lefover twi stuff?

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looks like Wurlitzer was 2 manual. wonder how old it was and how much it costs? too bad I don't have room in my house and besides my church hopes in 10 years to purchase a new Allen or Rodgers, Johanus, or Albion-Gallanti, which would be an improvement of its 1960 Allen organ, besides Wurlitzer doesn't seem to be much better. Rest of the stuff is boring. What about the buildings, are they also up for auction?

Edited by Thomas Loy Bumgarner
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TWI LOSES BIG ON ROME CITY SALE

The Way International sold The Way College of Biblical Research-- Indiana Campus at Rome City in northeast Indiana in December, 1999. The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette reported that Sylvan Springs paid $750,000 for the 197 acres of land, 30 buildings, furniture and equipment. Sylvan will use the facility for family enrichment programs.

The campus had been unused for years due to dramatic decline in TWI's following, and the skeleton maintenance staff moved off campus after the sale was final. The group that became Sylvan Springs was the first group to tour the facilities when the Way put it on sale in December 1997. TWI offered no asking price, but asked for bids. It promoted the sale using a video of local news reports about the campus.

It is likely that TWI lost well over $1 million on the campus, rivaling the $1 million loss on the sale of its Emporia, Kansas campus in 1991 (see the article "What's Wrong with This Picture?" for details on the Emporia campus' spotted history and $1 million loss).

TWI bought its Rome City campus in 1976, and opened it in May 1977 . The location had been the Kneipp Springs Health Spa for 84 years, operated for all but the first ten years by Sisters of the Precious Blood, a Roman Catholic order. The Sisters had rejected TWI's initial bid of $345,000 with no explanation when private developer Ten Leininger purchased the property, then sold it to TWI for a profit (which was said to have been 10%). Leininger and his children were involved in TWI to some degree at the time.

TWI initially invested over $1 million to renovate the facility (Sherman Goldenberg, "Secretive Sect Breeds Fear, Rumor," Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, Feb 11, 1979). Ex-followers of TWI claim that TWI spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on a fire sprinkler system, swimming pool, new roofs, new water tank and general renovation. Recently TWI spent about $300,000 on a new boiler. The age of the buildings called for a high investment in maintenance.

While TWI claims to have put at least $1.7 million into the campus initially, it is likely that TWI's investment exceeds $2 million. Since TWI sold it for $750,000, it apparently lost over $1.2 million-- nearly two-thirds of its investment.

TWI teaches that prosperity follows believing and obedience, yet TWI lost over $2.2 million on two real estate deals. The loss is even more surprising in an age in which inflation is typically over 3% per year.

Dr. John Juedes, C. 2000

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I was sent there as corps one winter. Was it just me? But I always found that place creepy - it had a feel about it, as if the souls of the sick people were still lingering - weird way to put it. But the place just felt sick and creepy to me. I was so glad to get out of there.

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:biglaugh: Let's contact SyFy"s Ghost Hunters. Maybe Jason and the gang can check it out, or Destination Truth :eusa_clap: Edited by Thomas Loy Bumgarner
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I was sent there as corps one winter. Was it just me? But I always found that place creepy - it had a feel about it, as if the souls of the sick people were still lingering - weird way to put it. But the place just felt sick and creepy to me. I was so glad to get out of there.

Oh my Gawd, I can't stop laughing!!!...

I felt the same way there...they sent me there for about 4 months and I swear that the place was damn creepy,

Kinda like Stephen King meets Vincent Price...nothing but bad stuff there...

The kids all seemed like the the kids from "Children of the Damned"...

The attic was the worst place there...I used to go up there to hide but it was too intense to stay for long...

Like being on the movie set for poltergeist

Edited by GrouchoMarxJr
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Yup, and the basement, where one of my work departments was. I'd go there in the evening to finish up and being the only one down there, it was so creepy, I quit going. Like you were being watched by - something...

Never did make it up to the attic.

There was something hinky about that place.

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I had the opposite experience with Rome City. I always liked it there. Of course, I was never assigned there as Corps and I didn't have any children. In fact, I was single at the time. I volunteered to work there during the Advanced Class. In other words, I was pretty much left to myself for 2 weeks. Also, it was after I spent a year in captivity in-residence and I was ready to bust out. Being left alone for first time in several months seemed heavenly and I possibly associated that with my surroundings.

So I liked the animals, and I love old buildings (as long as I don't have to maintain them), and the water actually tasted good. The place I thought was "creepy" was Emporia, which is where I spent most of my time. So maybe it was the experience and the associations that were creepy. Or maybe I was deluded and fit in well with whatever spiritual juice was around at the time. Kind of a morbid thought, I know, but hey, it was a morbid group.

Edited by Broken Arrow
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maybe Jason and Grant and the Ghosthunters team ought to investigate. btw, has anyone heard more about the auction?

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Well, I enjoyed Emporia in the early 80's because I was just there as a red-tagger.

I enjoyed Gunnison because I was only there for three weeks to staff Family Camps.

And I enjoyed Rome City for the three months I was there because the Clapps were in charge, and it was such a breath of fresh air from HQ at the time.

But I know a lot of folks who had VERY different experiences at each of those campuses and VERY different memories. It was never the buildings... just the stuff that was going on inside of them...

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I think it's funny that the auction inventory sounds a lot like everything twi had there...

What did they do?...cut and run and leave all their stuff behind? Ha ha ha

That is exactly what they did in Indiana...

When they sold Emporia, great pains were taken to "ready" the campus... it was emptied of all those "treasured" TWI items like the dove gates, artwork, books, etc. Even the best of the bunks and mattresses were shipped to HQ for storage. But it was left as a "walk-in" facility... with a full set of kitchen, cafeteria, dorm, and classroom items left as part of the campus itself.

In stark contrast, when twi sold the Rome City property, they left everything behind !! ... A stained glass window that was a gift from one of the corps, all the wine-making equipment, the stone (marble?) way-corps logo in the basement, the big back-yard swimming pool, and the entire contents of the library (some offshoot bought that)... And those same dove gates they took such pains to rescue from Emporia still hang at the entrance to the Rome City campus today...

It is a shame the purchaser couldn't make a go of renting the place out to various groups (sports camps, retreats, seminars, etc.) The current owners were devout Roman Catholics and believed fervently in the miracles that were said to have taken place there. They were petitioning the church to recognize their claims but I don't believe it ever did.

Edited by TheHighWay
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