Buddhist Garden in Chicago Under Dispute

December 10, 2001

Source: The Chicago Tribune

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-0112100021dec10.story?coll=chi%2Dnewslocalchicago%2Dhed

On December 10, 2001, The Chicago Tribune reported "Tax mistake threatens Buddhist garden." It noted, "Cambodian refugees who scraped together enough money to open a small Buddhist temple in Uptown are fighting for what they call a sacred piece of adjacent land that they fear was lost in a mix-up over unpaid taxes. Though its roots stretch back 16 years, the struggle over what was once a prayer garden at the Cambodian Buddhist Association Temple, 1258 W. Argyle St., emerged in September when worshippers and monks watched in horror as a bulldozer plowed through the garden's fence and onto the property." The article continued, "The garden, on a half-lot adjacent to the Cambodian temple, had been sold by Cook County because the owners did not pay their property taxes. But like hundreds of other religious groups, the Cambodian Buddhist Association is exempt from paying those levies. Community leaders are petitioning the county to intervene before a condominium development goes up on the site."