PRICE, Utah -- At the corner of 300 East and 100 North in Price, banners promise something big is coming.
But, there’s just one little problem when it comes to the plan to demolish homes to make way for an urgent care facility at a local hospital.
“Here I am, the last man standing,” says Larry Rake with a laugh from the porch of his home, which sits at the proposed site for the facility.
Rake fell in love with Price years ago.
“I said, ‘My God, is there actually a place like this in Utah? These people are normal!’"
And, he bought this house from a friend.
“He had done all this concrete work, all this siding,” Rake said. “He put new windows in, I put better windows in.”
Rake said he’s spent about $55,000 on improvements over the last 20 years, but the memories he made along the way are priceless.
“I had two gorgeous blondes living on either side of me,” he said.
But, that was long ago. Now their aging homes, and half a dozen others, are gone.
“I don't miss it,” Rake said of one home. “That piece of junk over there. They were terrible. Look how nice it is now. Clean.”
The hospital inquired about buying Larry’s home as well, and that’s when the sign went up.
“This is a joke between me and my friends,” Rake said of the "Last Man Standing" banner.
He insists he's not holding out for more money.
“That’s the last thing I’m worried about is money,” he said. “I've got enough to live on comfortably for the rest of my life.”
Rake said he is just a Marine who intends to hold his ground.
“I am kinda patriotic,” he said.
And enjoy what he's already got.
“That house is only big enough for me and the dogs,” he said.
The hospital has decided to build around him, and Rake says he is fine with that.
