HUNTSVILLE, Utah (AP) — A northern Utah man has bought the land where a monastery is closing after 70 years in hopes of preventing future development and preserving the legacy of the local landmark.
The Standard-Examiner reports Bill White of Huntsville purchased Abbey of Our Lady of the Holy Trinity in 2016. The Trappist monastery has seen a declining monk population and will likely close in September.
White is now working to save the property from becoming a mixed-use development, as proposed by its managers at the Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky.
The effort will likely cost $6 million to reimburse the property purchase and put some of the land into a conservation easement that would protect it against development.
Utah State University students and the nonprofit Utah Open Lands have also been involved in the project.