Jehovah's Witnesses seek to expand campus in Patterson
By MICHAEL RISINIT
THE JOURNAL NEWS (Original publication: , 20)
PATTERSON The hilltop complex off Route 22 in Patterson that is part of the global headquarters for about 6 million Jehovah's Witnesses is running out of room, and the religious group wants to enlarge its complex.
The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, the legal name of the parent organization of the Witnesses, has proposed adding about 172,800 square feet more of office and living space to its campus. The facility is used as a training center for hundreds of administrators from around the world. It also houses the graphic arts headquarters of the organization's Bible-education materials.
"It's kind of an orderly growth we've experienced," said Richard Eldred, spokesman for the Jehovah's Witnesses facility. "We anticipate increasing needs as the years go by."
Watchtower representatives will be before the Patterson Zoning Board of Appeals tonight for a public hearing. Patterson Town Planner Richard Williams said the group "needs to do a couple of things" to move ahead with its proposal. The Witnesses have to amend their special permit as it pertains to parking. Watchtower is also seeking relief from the town's height ordinance for one of its proposed buildings. The zoning board meeting starts at 7:30 p.m. in Patterson Town Hall, Routes 311 and 164.
The proposed five new buildings would represent about a 25 percent increase in the facility's size, which was completed in 1995. Eldred said the new construction would take about two or three years to complete and would accommodate the group's needs for at least 10 years.
Plans filed with the Patterson Planning Department show two new residence buildings, one three stories and the other five; a new four-story office building, a maintenance building and a three-story addition to the complex's audio-visual studio on the group's 362 acres. The tallest proposed structure is 79 feet, 30 feet taller than local zoning codes permit. The proposal is expected also to come under review from the town's Planning Board, Williams said.
Watchtower bought the land, a former dairy farm, along both sides of Route 22 in 1984 and began construction of the missionary training complex in 1989. The 28-building complex includes school facilities, offices and residences to accommodate about 1,200 people. Active in almost every country in the world, the group has about 1.05 million members in the United States.
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Michael Risinit