Bakker’s Plan for Coachella Complex Apparently Stalled

Coachella city officials said Thursday that defrocked evangelist Jim Bakker has been unable to fulfill his plans and time-table for developing a $2-billion religious theme park in the desert.

In February, Bakker proposed building a 1,600-acre complex of condominiums, hotels and shopping centers--to be called Heritage Springs International--within Coachella city limits. He also promised to return in one month with formal architectural plans.

At the time, Coachella Mayor Frank Duran compared Bakker’s offer to the town’s “winning the lottery.” But on Thursday, Duran said, “He never came back to us with the plans. . . . It doesn’t look as good as it used to.”

‘Bakker Is Out’

Councilman Larry Salas added, “As far as Coachella is concerned, Bakker is out. We have to look at corporate credibility and legitimacy here.”

In addition, city officials, asking that their names not be used, said that the City Council was informed in closed session last week that Bakker’s proposal no longer appeared to be viable. They noted that Bakker had not been able to guarantee that he had sufficient financing for the project.

In a telephone interview from his home in Palm Desert, Bakker insisted that “financing is not a problem.” However, he declined to elaborate on any financial arrangements.

Bakker said that “several weeks ago,” he told city officials that he had the formal plans in hand and wanted to present them to the Planning Commission. The officials declined to accept the plan, Bakker said, until he could prove he was prepared to buy the property for the complex.

Duran, however, said he is not aware of such a communication from Bakker.

“We are just not going to move rapidly on a project of that size,” Bakker said, adding that his timetable had been pushed back by a number of unforeseen problems.

Among them was that the owner, Harold McNaughton of Indian Wells, was under pressure “to sell his property” and had begun entertaining offers from other developers, Bakker said.

“If this property goes, I hope to find another in Coachella,” Bakker said of the parcel that has been on the market for $10 million.

Bakker also said that there were serious “access problems” with the property that could require construction of costly bridges and roads, as well as engineering studies. He also said that an earthquake fault runs beneath the property.

“I’d be a fool to buy property that there is no access to,” Bakker said. “If you are going to build a 1,000-room hotel, you want to make sure it is not on a fault.”

McNaughton could not be reached for comment. But Salas said, “McNaughton has approached us and said he has other people interested in buying the property.”

Salas said these developers also “want to build a $2-billion project of golf courses, polo grounds, condos and shopping centers--but with no religious connotation whatsoever.”

Amid his problems in Coachella, Bakker has turned his attention toward a renewed effort to return to the PTL-Heritage USA ministry near Ft. Mill, S.C. He resigned from PTL a year ago afte1914724707Long Island woman, Jessica Hahn, in 1980, and then paid her money to keep the affair quiet. He later lost his minister’s credentials from the Assemblies of God.

Last week, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Rufus Reynolds ordered PTL to begin planning its own liquidation to repay creditors owed more than $60 million.

Plea for Permission

On Tuesday, Bakker and his wife, Tammy Fae, sent a letter to PTL trustee David Clark in which they pleaded for permission to return to the ministry to try to raise money to stave off liquidation.

“I am begging them to let us return,” Bakker said in the telephone interview. “Ninety days is all we are asking for. If we can’t do it, we will walk off into the sunset and never return.”

At a press conference, Clark responded to the request by saying the chances of Bakker returning to PTL were “absolutely nil.”

Meanwhile, the Bakkers are awaiting the results of a federal grand jury review of evidence of possible tax evasion and fraud. As they await possible indictments, the Bakkers have been hit with lawsuits seeking millions of dollars allegedly squandered and misused while they headed PTL-Heritage USA.