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PROVO, Utah (AP) -- Bob Patel closes his Traveler's Inn Monday after losing a year-long battle with the city, which wants the site for an arts center.
Patel and the city agreed on April 18 that he would give up occupancy of the motel, with the final price yet to be decided.
Deputy City Attorney David Dixon said that likely will go to arbitration or trial. Patel's appraiser valued the 29-room motel at $1.29 million, while the city offered $875,000.
"All I'm asking is my appraisal price," he said. "They don't want to consider that."
Dixon said the city is bound by state law to pay a fair market price based on an appraisal.
"They have an appraisal," he said. "We're bound by our appraisal if they don't get one. If they get an appraisal that's different; that makes it negotiable."
The city got a number of appraisals of the property; Patel said one appraiser returned five different values during a two-month period, ranging from $775,000 to $875,000.
Patel doesn't believe creation of an arts center justifies exercising eminent domain. It's not a road or a fire station, and the general public good is not improved by this project, he said.
"They are definitely misusing their power," he said. "I'm losing my business, I'm losing my place."
Dixon said the arts center is a public purpose, which falls under the umbrella of appropriate eminent domain use.
The city made an offer to buy the property, the amount of which will not be disclosed until everything is final, and tried to negotiate both before and after filing a request to exercise eminent domain, he said.
"The building couldn't be built unless we were able to expand to the west," Dixon said.
The arts center is to include a 700-seat concert hall, an art gallery and music and dance studios.
It was scheduled to be completed in January 2007. City spokeswoman Raylene Ireland said the delay in getting the motel property should only push that back by a couple of months, as work already is under way on the part of the site occupied by the old library building.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
