Edward J. Roye Building

The Edward J. Roye Building is a wrecked skyscraper on Ashmun Street in the commercial district of Monrovia, the capital city of Liberia. Constructed as the headquarters of the True Whig Party,[1] it was renamed the "E.J. Roye Memorial Building" in 1964. It is one of the most prominent buildings in the city. In the building's earlier years, it included a grand auditorium,[2] and before the 1980 coup d'état, it hosted government meetings such as sessions of the Legislature in 1975,[3] as well as non-governmental conventions such as the Liberian Federation of Trade Unions in 1977.[4] It sits in the heart of the city's pre-coup commercial district, near locations such as the former offices of the American Colonization Society.[1]

Inauguration of President Tolbert, 1976; the Roye Building is the skyscraper in the background

Considering that the Party had become defunct following the 1980 coup, the General Services Agency appropriated the building in 2011,[5] and in view of the building's ruined state,[6] the building was closed for construction in late 2013. The action provoked anger among the leaders of the rump TWP, who considered their party still to be the owners of the building and filed suit to have themselves declared the rightful owners and to have government officials enjoined from further possession of or construction at the property.[7]

References
  1. "American Colonization Society Still Owns Land in Liberia?" [Monrovia] SunTimes 1985-07-03: 12.
  2. Lonely Planet Africa. [Melbourne]: Lonely Planet, 2013, B4.
  3. Fourth annual message of Dr. William R. Tolbert, Jr., President of the Republic of Liberia, to the fourth session of the 47th Legislature, January 24, 1975, E.J. Roye Building, Monrovia, Liberia, HathiTrust. Accessed 2016-03-16.
  4. Statement by Dr. William R. Tolbert, Jr., President of Liberia, at the Installation Programme of the Liberia Federation of Trade Unions, E.J. Roye Building, Monrovia, October 12, 1977, Google Books, n.d. Accessed 2016-03-16.
  5. Gov't to Rehabilitate E.J.Roye, Others...Needs US$13M for Monrovia's Drainage System Archived 2016-03-25 at the Wayback Machine, The Inquirer, 2011. Accessed 2016-03-16.
  6. Tweh, Jefferson D. "Gov't Takes Over E.J. Roye Building?", The Inquirer, 2013-11-12. Accessed via AllAfrica.com, 2016-03-16.
  7. Concerned TWP Members Take Gov't to Court, The Inquirer, 2011. Accessed 2016-03-16.

6.317336°N 10.802740°W / 6.317336; -10.802740

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