Question about the cross storyline

It would have had to have been bought by a private entity; either a person or nongovernmental. The city could not buy it or the lawsuit would not have been dismissed since city owned land is considered public. Maybe the chamber of commerce or church, if not a private person or persons bought it. Government agencies either local, county, or state sometimes do that; sell to a private party to avoid a lawsuit and removing a popular religious symbol. It was done, believe it or not, in San Francisco with a large popular cross on top of Mt. Davidson. A lawsuit was threatened because the land was public and owned by the city. I think it was a group of churches that got together and bought the small plot of land that it was located on from the city thereby avoiding a lawsuit and allowing the cross the stay. It may sound strange for a city as liberal as San Francisco to do such a thing but if enough people support the idea of keeping a cross, politicians are not stupid and understand votes are votes. So they bowed to the pressure and sold the property.

Hey folks,

It was not clear to me who purchased the land. Based on the lawsuit, however, the mountain or hill had to be public property, and it had to be purchased by a non-public party which could have been a single person, a private company, or whatever. The sale of the small plot of land with the cross to a private party made the suit moot.

If you recall, near the end of the film, Dr. Lisa tells the town "lawyer" to buy the property, but her reply was that no one could afford to buy the mountain. I choose to think that Dr. Lisa bought the small plot of land in a feeling of gratitude for her enlightening stay in Normal.

Best wishes,
Dave Wile