Reliably Austin
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

What’s Up With This Mysterious FLDS Building in Eldorado?

A still from video shot over the FLDS compound in Eldorado. Several unique fetures of the construction have been noted.
Image courtesy ksl.com
A still from video shot over the FLDS compound in Eldorado. Several unique fetures of the construction have been noted.

New aerial shots of the Yearning for Zion ranch in Eldorado, Texas – home to the controversial sect of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) formerly lead by imprisoned pastor Warren Jeffs – are causing consternation among locals.

Maybe because the coliseum under construction looks more like something from Stanley Kubrick’s "2001" than anything else.

TM Daily Post highlights a recent report from KSL News in Salt Lake City. KSL reporter John Hollenhorst flew over the YFZ Ranch site with Judge Jimmy Doyle, shooting footage of the new construction.

Among the findings: The Salt Lake station reports “thousands of tubes” that may constitute an elaborate cooling system; an equally elaborate system of drainage channels; and the rumor the site may house an enormous statue of Jeffs holding the hand of a young girl. (Jeffs was convicted of aggravated sexual assault of children, among other offenses.)  KSL says:

Last year, [local builder Michael Biggerstaff] claims one of the FLDS teenagers, who calls him "uncle," an FLDS term of respect, revealed a secret. "He just made a comment to me one day. He just said, ‘Uncle Mike, they're building a statue of Uncle Warren,'" Biggerstaff said. Later, he said, the FLDS youth sent him an image of a 30- foot statue: a tall man and a child evidently wearing a prairie dress, drawn on the back of a religious text. A mirror image reveals the text is about Cyrus of Persia.

You can view the KSL report online.

Wells has been a part of KUT News since 2012, when he was hired as the station's first online reporter. He's currently the social media host and producer for Texas Standard, KUT's flagship news program. In between those gigs, he served as online editor for KUT, covering news in Austin, Central Texas and beyond.
Related Content