Larry Rice - New Life Evangelistic Center

debaliviere · PostMar 07, 2008#12008-03-07T19:32+00:00

From Deb Peterson:

HERO OF THE HOMELESS: St. Louis officials are rumored to be in the process of trying to get court action to evict the Rev. Larry Rice and his New Life Evangelistic Center from their confines at 1411 Locust Street, near downtown. Downtown boosters have made no secret of their desire to get Rice and his homeless band to move from an area that city officials hope is on the gentrification upswing. Efforts got renewed attention following a fatal stabbing at the center in February. A spokesman for St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay's office has said twice in the past two weeks that the office is not yet ready to speak about the issue. Rice said he has not been notified of any action against him. "I don't know what kind of plotting or manipulating is going on (by the mayor's office)," he said. Rice said his group owns the center; he added they have been at the location for about 35 years and are in the midst of a $1 million renovation campaign. "We would engage in any legal action necessary to stay here, and take it all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary," he added.

Link

jlblues · PostMar 07, 2008#22008-03-07T19:51+00:00

[-o<

Here's hopin' and prayin' that, at the very least, this will get Rev. Rice to clean up his dog-and-pony show.

moorlander · PostMar 07, 2008#32008-03-07T20:07+00:00

Is Rice against a buyout? Anyone know the history of any offers made to him for his property over the years? Surely he could run his operation in other areas of the city, right? I understand he's been there for 35 years, but I think any reasonable person would be willing to move for the better of the entire city. Seems awfully selfish to me.

gone corporate · PostMar 07, 2008#42008-03-07T20:11+00:00

AWESOME! This has made my day. I am sure none of his neighboring businesses would shed a single tear for him.

Speculation and Credible Rumors:

I bet you all that Skyhouse has a lot to do with this. I believe they’ve been making buyout offers for his land that went over and above what the fair market value of his ramshack dump and the underlying property is worth, and I bet he held on for more money, thinking he had the out-of-town developers over a barrel. They’re in a good position to do this, as Larry doesn’t own the two parking lots east and west of the NLEC, and he’s relatively isolated regarding this project and its possible future expansion for establishing retail interests south.

However, if it got to the point of Larry’s price being over-exorbitant, I bet you that they went to Mayor Slay’s office. They’re still smiting off of his campaign to turn the old Federal building into a homeless warehouse and costing the Kiel Auditorium rehab to be delayed. I bet they can get the site declared blighted with relative ease, and afterwards they can get a super case of eminent domain and kick him out. I don’t know if a more clear-cut case for eminent domain can be written than what may emerge from this.

If he’s gone, I bet the Library Expansion next door can get done more quickly, too.

Everyone: Let City Hall know if you want Larry & Co. gone from Downtown. Public support will sway the issues.

zink · PostMar 07, 2008#52008-03-07T20:21+00:00

Anyone have an email for who we can express or opinions to? Would it be the aldermen or mayors office?

Also, couldnt he just sell it, then move to lets say... Locust and 18th street.

Where would he move his new facility to? I mean if the city with skyhouse with who ever else offer him a nice chuck of change for him to move, where will he move too.

If this does happen it would be great for him, downtown, and the homeless in that they will have a much better facility.

chrisindowntown · PostMar 07, 2008#62008-03-07T20:22+00:00

DeBaliviere wrote:From Deb Peterson:

he added they have been at the location for about 35 years

Link

I thought he had a spot in Lafayette Square before he moved DT. Or did he have both?

tge-atw · PostMar 07, 2008#72008-03-07T20:24+00:00

That "ramshack dump" is an amazing building that should be put to a better use for downtown. I am worried that Larry might be itching for a legal battle, especially if he has a chance at 1. making money, 2. making the city/Slay look like homeless haters 3. making himself look like the champion of the poor and downtrodden. Getting rid of him through any process/tactic that is not transparent and solidly legal could end up backfiring big time.

moorlander · PostMar 07, 2008#82008-03-07T20:29+00:00

if you don't like your neighbor, buy him out!

Any speculation what his property is worth? Isn't it tied to "that church" (name??) down there too?

jlblues · PostMar 07, 2008#92008-03-07T20:30+00:00

Moorlander wrote:Is Rice against a buyout? Anyone know the history of any offers made to him for his property over the years? Surely he could run his operation in other areas of the city, right?

No, because what he seeks, over and above anything else, is visibility. He believes that visibility is the solution to getting all of the other things he desires. Downtown is the best place to achieve that. FWIW, I believe he is probably right, he will get an obscene buyout offer from someone. Whether or not he will take it, or continue to seek the spotlight for his operation, is anyone's guess.

Moorlander wrote:I understand he's been there for 35 years, but I think any reasonable person would be willing to move for the better of the entire city. Seems awfully selfish to me.

I think you just answered your own question.

innov8ion · PostMar 07, 2008#102008-03-07T20:40+00:00

zink wrote:Anyone have an email for who we can express or opinions to? Would it be the aldermen or mayors office?

I think that that stuff filters up to the Mayor from the alderpeeps.

Special delivery for zink et al:

Aldermen Contacts: http://stlcin.missouri.org/alderman/WardMap.cfm

gone corporate · PostMar 07, 2008#112008-03-07T20:47+00:00

Moorlander wrote:if you don't like your neighbor, buy him out!

From what I've heard, that's been Skyhouse's plan for quite some time.

Now it comes down to whether he's willing to take an offer, even a very generous one, or if he just wants attention.

"Look at me! Look at me next to homeless guys! Look at me! Let me tell you about the church I oversee! Look at me! Watch me piss off City Hall, the Business Community, the Tourism Industry, my Business Neighbors, Developers, and Residents that aren't homeless and in my shelter! Look at me! Watch me not do nearly as good a job as St. Patrick's Center! Look at me! Watch me vote down liquor licenses with my band of homeless signing against the petitions, because the city is for the homeless, and them alone! Look at me! I'll say 'Supreme Court' just to sound like I'm in the right! Look at me! Look at me! Look at me!"

This pompous predator seeks more validation than a college girl who's going wild because daddy didn't hug her enough (or too much). I'm ready to see him climb up on the cross and say that he's superior to the rest of us, meanwhile demanding more money for his dilapidated building (originally set up as the YWCA at the turn of the century). Let's hope that enough momentum tells him to get down, that we need the wood, and he's more than welcome to take the existing offer or face seizure of property & chattels for health code violations & establishing dangerous operations unfit for the community (see: murder in February), with a permanent eviction from the city of Saint Louis.

Yeah, he gets under my skin.

tge-atw · PostMar 07, 2008#122008-03-07T20:59+00:00

somebody likes Tom Waits,

and posting in triplicate.

zink · PostMar 07, 2008#132008-03-07T21:57+00:00

innov8ion wrote:
zink wrote:Anyone have an email for who we can express or opinions to? Would it be the aldermen or mayors office?
I think that that stuff filters up to the Mayor from the alderpeeps.

Special delivery for zink et al:

Aldermen Contacts: http://stlcin.missouri.org/alderman/WardMap.cfm

Good, I thought you were going to make me go upstairs and pick it up!

I just emailed The Alderwoman Kacie Starr Triplett about my opinion. So far I am 1 for 1 with her. Emailed her about 3 months ago about the aggressive panhandlers. And now they passed that ordinance.

innov8ion · PostMar 07, 2008#142008-03-07T22:03+00:00

^ You must be a powerful person, zink. Aren't you in Alderman Young's ward though? I am. I'm not sure who you will have when you make the big move. I believe there are three alderpeeps within a two block radius of where I live.

stlcardsblues1989 · PostMar 08, 2008#152008-03-08T01:05+00:00

If they don't like his homeless shelter there I hope they can at least work out something to get him into a new building.

I pray that everything works out well.

innov8ion · PostMar 08, 2008#162008-03-08T01:31+00:00

STLCardsBlues1989 wrote:If they don't like his homeless shelter there I hope they can at least work out something to get him into a new building.

I pray that everything works out well.

Why, so his mismanaged operations can result in the death of more innocent homeless? We should look for competent operators to fulfill homeless services. Larry Rice has proven himself incapable and is a danger to the homeless community.

gone corporate · PostMar 08, 2008#172008-03-08T02:31+00:00

The needs of the homeless are profound, and they must be supported.

Just as much, Larry Rice and the NLEC are self-serving entities to his own edification and the promulgation of a mentality of dependence amongst the homeless. While we as a community must continue to help out these people, more so than ever, we can't let the NLEC continue as it has for all these years. For all the good intents underlying it, what it has become is an aberration from the original founding intent.

Larry Rice and the NLEC, left unimpeded, will be a prolonged and blatant hurdle to cohesive downtown redevelopment. For all the efforts to renew the city, especially downtown, there must be a change, including in how the homeless are served. I say we start at 1411 Locust by kicking out the false servant.

jkl96c · PostMar 08, 2008#182008-03-08T02:40+00:00

How do you think you could help the homeless more then REV Rice? I was talking to a women that said her brother hit her in the head not sure why but she has memory loss and is homeless she said that she has been raped by guys that found the same condemd house that she was in so I think that it offers security for people.WWJD

MattnSTL · PostMar 08, 2008#192008-03-08T03:25+00:00

There are a lot of examples of homeless providers doing a better job than Larry Rice.

mophipsi · PostMar 08, 2008#202008-03-08T14:41+00:00

Like the St. Patrick Center, which seeks to give people job skills...Larry Rice just wants to be a homeless warehouse. I have nothing against a homeless person at all, in fact I like the fact that my neighborhood has programs like Centenary Methodist and St. Patrick Center around. I do not however care for Larry Rice at all...

thewayofthearch · PostMar 11, 2008#212008-03-11T17:38+00:00

Larry Rice isn't kidding when he says he'll take this to the Supreme Court.

The McGowans, Hillers, and Walsh's of the world already have tried to buy him out. He has too much of his own money and the dynamic he has created, bringing in homeless off the street and forcing them into his evangelist tv sermons as a condition for room and board, is such a cash cow that he'll never leave of his own volition.

It is the ox that pulls in all the money, this dynamic, and its so incredibly convenient for him that he'll never walk away. I mean people are just giving him money. Would you?

And how bout that "1 million dollar renovation drive?

I wonder how thats going? Why not sell one of his 14 tv stations? does he really need to bleed the elderly of the mississippi and ohio river valleys of their social security checks?

This isn't going to be pretty, and the city must be staying quiet as they stock up on ammo.

jmedwick · PostMar 11, 2008#222008-03-11T17:46+00:00

^ I still say the mistake was not condemning his property for an expansion of the Main Library. It might have been the one method where the City could have the moral and legal high ground.

thewayofthearch · PostMar 11, 2008#232008-03-11T17:48+00:00

Oooooooh, that would have been a great play.

innov8ion · PostMar 11, 2008#242008-03-11T19:35+00:00

jkl96c wrote:How do you think you could help the homeless more then REV Rice? I was talking to a women that said her brother hit her in the head not sure why but she has memory loss and is homeless she said that she has been raped by guys that found the same condemd house that she was in so I think that it offers security for people.WWJD

What security are you talking about? You do realize there have been at least two murders in addition to stabbings in Rice establishments within the past two months? The homeless are not safe there.

And WWJD? Our pal J was not afraid to point out corruption and would not be fond of hypocrisy -- especially found in a supposed man of the cloth. He'd probably start by kicking Larry Rice in the grill.

debaliviere · PostMar 11, 2008#252008-03-11T19:43+00:00

innov8ion wrote:He'd probably start by kicking Larry Rice in the grill.

I wish that one of our PhotoShop-savy posters could come up with a visual of this for us.