Ruling Delayed In OSU Eminent Domain Case

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) -- A court has delayed a ruling on whether two brothers can proceed with their challenge of Oklahoma State University's attempt to buy their home to make way for the school's

Friday, October 6th 2006, 10:33 am

By: News On 6

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) -- A court has delayed a ruling on whether two brothers can proceed with their challenge of Oklahoma State University's attempt to buy their home to make way for the school's planned athletic village.

Payne County District Judge Donald Worthington on Thursday set a December 7 hearing to consider the case.

The university has bought 86 of the 87 properties it needs to build the new athletic facilities, but brothers Kevin and Joel McCloskey have refused to sell, saying the school has not offered them a fair price.

They are challenging condemnation proceedings the university has initiated on the property.

The athletic village is being built with a record $165-million gift from oilman alumnus T. Boone Pickens.

"We're not anti-OSU," Kevin McCloskey said Thursday. "We are excited about all the money T. Boone Pickens has donated, but we want to be justly compensated for our property."

The court delay is not expected to affect OSU's planned construction, set to start early next year, spokesman Gary Shutt said. The university's first construction project will be a transportation center, which does not encompass the contested land.

OSU has offered $62,000 for the 631-square-foot house, which the brothers bought for $25,500 about a year ago as a rental property.