KEY WEST: Mr. Pritam Singh a Massachusetts born convert to Sikhism bought the historic 100 acre Truman Amnex from the Navy for $17.25 million.
Commenting after the prime water front property auction Mr. Singh 33 said “It is a fair price upward line of what we had planned to offer The site includes 19 histone structures including President Trumans “Little White House” where Truman spent “working vacations” and among other things demonstrated his Missouri swimming craw!” at Truman Beach while he kept his eye glasses on. Mr. Pritam Singh was born in 1952 in Fitch burgh Mass. and named Paul La Bombard.
According to a recent article in The Maine Times he spent several years living with aunts because of family troubles and moved to Brunswick Maine with his father when he was 14. After deciding not to attend college. He said in an interview with the New York Times he drifted to various parts of the country including Key West where he dived for shells.
After enlisting in the antiwar movement and being arrested in the 1971 March on Washington Singh said he spent five years in a Sikh community in Massachusetts.
In 1976 he said he became disenchanted with groups leader left the community while continuing to practice the Sikh religion and in 1980 started accumulating. a real estate empire that he recently valued at $100 million.
What many Key West residents fear most about this sale is the possibility of high rise development on a 12square mile island they say is already overdeveloped and overpriced?
According to the new owner Key Westerns should have no such fears.
“Were going to restore everything” said Singh who was wearing a blue turban jeans and army boots. “We might use some existing buildings. What we will do first off is put a deed restriction on it all to protect the historic sites”.
The Truman Annex was a major naval base until the Navy vacated it on 1974 saying it lacked the amount of deep water needed for maneuvering the huge new nuclear ships.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 19, 1986
