The Planning Commission man who is a minister stated that the land had no historical value.

Any of you people out there such as the Buski's, or Ferko's, or anyone else who grew up on the land, please do tell......

Memories, stories of if a railroad undergroud for the slaves exists?
The Reeves did not advertise or need to be popular on this fact. Back then you could go to jail for helping slaves go free. BUT many people on board fought the historical preservation as then they could not develope and bulldoze as easiliy as they did on the REEVES MANSION in todays world.

Does anyone out there recall the entrance to railroad in that cottage?

Does anymoe out there recall the secret passages to get to this from the old mansion?

Does anymore out there recall the locations of the childrens graves near the old greenhouse below the garage and near ball field as well as under the current playground?

Is it a conflict of interest for the Clemm lawyer to represent both buyer and seller?

How are the promises of Evans to the church, assured, if lawyer represents both entities?

Rumor has it Evans is retiring after this deal. How can he be held accountable when the roads of church, lots of church, safety of church are all ignored as he "promised" to pave, plow, and keep control FOREVER. Won't this become a county or state run facility once he sells, moves, retires and never looks back??

Shame on the handpicked board of officers who are naive and uneducated in this type of transaction. Surely they are not looking out for the best interest of their congregation or in too deep to know how to get out.

Clemm is a very shrewd attorney from Montgomery County who came into this project by the recommendation of Mr. Richard (James) Phifer whom joined HGC about five years ago. Based upon the prothonatary site of Montgomery County, Phifer has quite a bit of legal fees, lawsuits and the common bond is Clemms association and involvement.

Fast Forward, Appraiser for Continnental Reality, Owned by Gambone Brothers, is the one and only Richard (James) Phifer whom swiftly and sincerely became a convert to Holy Ghost. IF you look at his wifes parish in Norristown, he is quite involved their as well. However that parish has no land!!!!

In any event, Phifer brings HUD deal to the board, the priest and gets his attorney. After over 20 months of work they decide to get someone to present the deal who is trusted by the parish..

The naive and greedy officers, allowed Phifer to sway them into thinking pledges will keep the church in the black and selling the land would be good for the needy and was their Christian responsibility.

Funny how things work out as after President Phifer laid the groundwork, he convinced choir son Samilenko to sell the deal to the parish after a month in office. He faded away with sleepless nights and now, out of the woodwork comes Mr. John Ely who is another, non founder, stranger to Phoenixville and clueless as to the history, theology and vision of the Saint Nicholas Brotherhood. The man does not even know my name and I have been there for sixty years.

You kids are so foolish to believe you can win as our people did this for a reason. .. to have a church and lovely complex for future generations of our people to pray and learn of the rich history.

answer to question whether or not anyone still remembers the underground tunnels:
Yes,at first council meeting, a church member and Sr. citizen, bravely spoke to the town council and related her personal experience and discussions with the priest, Very Rev. Fr. Stephen Shutack, who had direct contact with Mr. Reeve's relatives and knew first hand the history of the mansion, underground railroad history and slave burials. For this she was given written censure by the Bishop,denied participation in any and all church functions and told she was no longer a Christian!
Other members remember the history also but lots of luck getting them to speak on anything church related.

Is it a conflict of interest for the lawyer to represent both buyer and seller?

It is a conflict of interest and unethical to represent both the buyer and the seller in any real estate deal. Technically you need to protect the interest of your client against any issues that may arise from the other party, no matter who is in bed with whom.

This entire deal needs to be aired. What is going on here?

In the archives of the Daily Republican/Evening Phoenix in 2000 and 1996 there were historical editorials of the underground tunnels on the property of Holy Ghost Church.

A tenant of the cottage, Charles Buski, interviewed at length with the paper on the topic. Interestingly enough he also played ball for the St Michaels team - AKA Holy Ghost Softball Team which later, the HGB claimed didn't have sports or active events after the 1950's.

Call Mr. Buski or research the archives: Evans statment that No Underground Railroads was an outright lie and the Overdorf, Chendorain and Breno's in the room knew this was a lie and kept their mouths shut - participating in a crime makes you guilty and misleading and wasting council time and lawyer money, is stealing and deceving your people. Those of us who attend now know why you can not look us in the eye. You are cowards selling out your parents vision for this land!

In reference to the underground railroad being at the Reeves property in Phoenixville, I distinctly recall how there was an underground tunnel that went from the cottage to the river, where slaves were smuggled along the road to freedom. I saw it with my own eyes. And there was secret passageways in the Reeves mansion, that went to the basement where there was another tunnel that went across the property. This was common knowledge to parishoners in the 60's and 70's. The destruction of the Reeves mansion was a travesty at the highest level. That building should have been historically preserved, but short term greed won out. What comes around goes around and the people behind the attempted, ill fated sale of the Reeves property are finding out, but refusing to acknowledge, that they will never win. Phifer, Evans, Fedornock, Clemm, Breno, Chendorain, Overdorf, and all of their cronies will be long gone before that property can be sold - so they should get over it - or spend their lives in agony over it - which they do every day. The history is too deep, and the opposition hasn't even begun to fight yet. When does the letter go out to all the HGOC parishoners detailing the entire sordid mess in a truthful impartisan manner from a non-connected third party? Not soon enough! The best is yet to come.