Edward J. Roye Building

{{short description|Architectural structure}}

File:ASC Leiden - F. van der Kraaij Collection - 08 - 079 - The inauguration of William Richard Tolbert, 20th President of Liberia. Crowds, Edward J. Roye Building in the background - Ashmun street, Monrovia, Liberia, 1976.tiff

File:E.J. Roye Building on Ashmun Street.jpg

File:Stained glass window in E.J. Roye Building.jpg

File:Vahnjah Richards panel.jpg

The Edward J. Roye Building is a wrecked skyscraper on Ashmun Street in the commercial district of Monrovia, the capital city of Liberia. Constructed{{when|date=August 2017}} as the headquarters of the True Whig Party,"American Colonization Society Still Owns Land in Liberia?" [Monrovia] SunTimes 1985-07-03: 12. it was renamed the "E.J. Roye Memorial Building" in 1964.[https://books.google.com/books?id=_VszAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA455] It is one of the most prominent buildings in the city. In the building's earlier years, it included a grand auditorium,Lonely Planet Africa. [Melbourne]: Lonely Planet, 2013, B4. and before the 1980 coup d'état, it hosted government meetings such as sessions of the Legislature in 1975,[http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/010565403 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. as well as non-governmental conventions such as the Liberian Federation of Trade Unions in 1977.[https://books.google.com/books?id=t3RQHQAACAAJ 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. 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.

Considering that the Party had become defunct following the 1980 coup, the General Services Agency appropriated the building in 2011,[http://www.theinquirer.com.lr/content1.php?main=news&news_id=970 Gov't to Rehabilitate E.J.Roye, Others...Needs US$13M for Monrovia's Drainage System] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325095645/http://www.theinquirer.com.lr/content1.php?main=news&news_id=970 |date=2016-03-25 }}, The Inquirer, 2011. Accessed 2016-03-16. and in view of the building's ruined state,Tweh, Jefferson D. [http://allafrica.com/stories/201311121140.html "Gov't Takes Over E.J. Roye Building?"], The Inquirer, 2013-11-12. Accessed via AllAfrica.com, 2016-03-16. 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.[http://monroviainquirer.com/2014/02/12/concerned-twp-members-take-govt-to-court Concerned TWP Members Take Gov't to Court], The Inquirer, 2011. Accessed 2016-03-16.