Jehovah’s Witnesses buy data center property for new expansion

(RNS) — The Jehovah’s Witnesses have purchased a former IBM office and data center on property near its world headquarters in New York’s Hudson Valley region, the faith group recently announced.

A spokesman for the Witnesses said that the property, once used by the IBM Corporation, is part of an expansion of facilities in that area.

“About six months ago an opportunity became available to purchase a property adjacent to our World Headquarters in Warwick, New York, and we felt it was worth pursuing,” Jason Hohl, spokesman for the Jehovah’s Witnesses in the United States, told Religion News Service in a statement. “Its proximity to our existing facilities made it particularly appealing and gives us added flexibility for our organizational needs, such as office space, dining facilities etc.”

Its corporation, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York Inc., purchased the site from Kyndryl Inc., an information technology company, on June 26.

The religious group is currently building a new media center for audio and video production about biblical teachings in nearby Ramapo, New York, on land that was bought in 2009.

Members of the faith, which emerged in the 1870s and is…