Phoenix Business Owners in "Full Lock Down" as Relocation Fight With City Boils Over

A pair of Phoenix business owners claim the city screwed them in a railroad deal and ruined their livelihood. Now the husband-and-wife entrepreneurs have locked themselves inside their small compound, threatening to stay until they're forced out.This plot could have been pulled from the Westerns section at the DVD store,...

By Ray Stern

September 9, 2009

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A pair of Phoenix business owners claim the city screwed them in a railroad deal and ruined their livelihood. Now the husband-and-wife entrepreneurs have locked themselves inside their small compound, threatening to stay until they're forced out.

This plot could have been pulled from the Westerns section at the DVD store, but it's the real thing for King's World of Marble owners Seamus King and Alexandra Seals. They're being forced to move from the site near 44th and Washington streets, where the business has been for 14 years, to make way for a train route under construction that will ferry light-rail users to Sky Harbor airport.

The couple told Channel 15 news (KNXV-TV) in a report last night that "when things happen, we will peacefully leave." But a week ago, King was grousing to Channel 5 (KPHO-TV) that authorities "...will have to drag me off the property."

They highlighted their plight by writing "HELLNOWENOGO" and "JMCAINHELP" on the roof of the business. It's almost like they think John McCain will reach down from heaven to save them from the jaws of the city's bureaucracy.

Whether King and Seals will lose their World of Marble, or just their marbles -- tune in next time.

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Ray Stern is the former news editor of Phoenix New Times. He worked as a newspaper reporter in Arizona for more than two decades. He's won numerous awards for his reporting, including the Arizona Press Club's Don Bolles Award for Investigative Journalism.