Free Republic

Over two decades, one prospective buyer after another passed over the abandoned village in the Connecticut countryside. There were requirements to preserve its historical character and problems with the septic system, not to mention rumors that it was haunted. So when a Filipino church came forward and bought the deteriorating collection of Victorian-style buildings last week, local officials were elated the village would be saved from rotting away. An official with the church, Iglesia Ni Cristo, says it is not daunted because it has a history of repurposing shuttered buildings for its fast-growing membership. "We purchase a lot of abandoned...