INGLEWOOD — Members and supporters of the Church of Scientology celebrated Tuesday night after the city council voted 4-0 to overturn a planning commission decision to deny them a permit to use a two-story property they own on Market Street as a church. The 11-month battle over the special use permit (SUP), which has been the subject of several public hearings, came to a close when the council adopted a resolution overturning the Planning Commission denial and made appropriate findings for ...

PASADENA, Calif. — The opening of a Scientology center in this city’s Old Town neighborhood was a significant local event. Church members spent $10 million to buy a historic four-story building and $6 million more to restore it to its 1906 luster before a gala dedication ceremony on July 18. But the Pasadena project is just one part of a much larger undertaking for the church: the creation of about 50 new centers in 16 countries. The global real estate firm ...

By spring, restoration should be complete on the ornate auditorium of the German House, the 82-year-old Lafayette Square landmark where the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra recorded in the 1950s. The four-story brick and terra cotta building, at 2345 Lafayette Avenue, has been vacant most of this decade. Opened in 1928 as a German cultural center called Das Deutsche Haus, the building later carried the St. Louis House name and was home to two Christian schools before it was boarded up and ...

[Ongoing censorship of critical views in the comments section, as confirmed by a Seattle Times official: "Dear readers, As many of you have noticed, many comments have been suppressed in this comment thread. This has not been due to an editorial decision by The Seattle Times, but rather has been due to other readers reporting and flagging abuse. I have gone into the problem queue and unflagged all appropriate comments. Nikolaj Lasbo Online News Producer seattletimes.com"] —– For the Rev. Ann ...

L. Ron Hubbard's footprint is growing — in Seattle and beyond. Want proof? The writing is on the western slope of Queen Anne in Seattle. The block letters on the side of a five-story brick building paint a pretty clear picture: "SCIENTOLOGY." Seattle's new Church of Scientology regional headquarters opened its doors last weekend. The streets around the building at 300 West Harrison St. were closed Saturday for a grand opening attended by more than 1,500 parishioners. The next morning, they ...

SCIENTOLOGISTS are planning to spend £2.5million on renovating the Royal Fleet Hotel and employ 150 staff to run it. In a detailed interview with The Herald, Church of Scientology members also said they expected 'tens of thousands' of people to visit the Devonport site each and every year. It follows news earlier this month that the church had bought the historic 110-year-old Morice Square site for £1million. Graeme Wilson, a Church of Scientology public affairs director, said people in Devonport had ...

DEVONPORT'S iconic Royal Fleet Hotel has been sold to the Church of Scientology. The Herald has learned agents representing the hotel's owner — Midlands-based businessman Kailash Suri — completed the sale of the historic building on Friday. Last month, Mr Suri announced the hotel was set to close, 18 months after he bought it promising a multi-million-pound makeover. He claimed the Morice Square building was losing money "drastically". But yesterday, Mr Suri, the Church of Scientology and property consultants King Sturge ...

Objectif: soigner l'image du mouvement pour stimuler le recrutement [Picture / Caption: Le porte-parole de l’Église de scientologie de Montréal, Jean Larivière, devant l’édifice que le mouvement vient d’acquérir au centre-ville de Montréal. Un projet de 10 millions après rénovations] L'Église de scientologie prépare une offensive majeure au Canada. D'ici deux ans, cette organisation controversée compte construire d'attrayants lieux de culte à coups de millions dans les grandes villes du pays. Une opération charme sans précédent visant à recruter de plus ...

A BIZARRE religious cult which believes humans are trapped alien souls has announced plans to open a centre in Trafford to serve as its north west HQ. The Church of Scientology, which bills itself as the fastest growing religion in the world, announced on its website plans to take over the former Duckworth’s Essence Distillery factory on Chester Road in Old Trafford. The movement’s website has started advertising the building as one of several across the globe it plans to open ...

[Picture / Caption: In four to six months, the former Science Museum of Minnesota will be transformed into the regional headquarters for the Church of Scientology, which has ambitious plans for growth in the Twin Cities—part of a global effort to expand, which an official says has resulted in the Church doubling its worldwide size in the last five years. (Staff photo: Bill Klotz)] The Church of Scientology has ambitious plans for growing in the Twin Cities area, hoping to double ...

Workers are busily transforming the old Science Museum of Minnesota in downtown St. Paul into the new local headquarters for the Church of Scientology—thanks to a $3 million renovation. The Clearwater, Fla.-based denomination, which claims more than 8,000 churches and adherents in 165 countries, has been headquartered in the Twin Cities at 1011 Nicollet Ave. in Minneapolis since 1991. That will change when the renovated, three-story, 80,640-square-foot building at 505 N. Wabasha St. in St. Paul reopens as a Scientology “Ideal ...

CHICAGO (RNS) The windows are boarded-up and there's a "Keep Out" sign in the windowsill. Many in the Printer's Row neighborhood are unaware that the vacant brick building is slated to become Illinois' new welcome center for the Church of Scientology at the end of the year. The $4-million purchase of the seven-story structure is part of a nationwide push by Scientologists to open a host of new church buildings and draw new members into the faith. In all, more than ...

The former Science Museum of Minnesota is being transformed into the largest Church of Scientology in the Midwest. Renovations started this week on the vacant downtown St. Paul building that the church bought three years ago. It appears to be the church's first foray into St. Paul and its largest footprint in Minnesota. The building will serve followers from across the state, according to a video on the Scientology website. Church officials did not return a message seeking comment on Thursday. ...

When the Church of Scientology bought the Stevens Building in 2008, it told tenants to vacate when their leases ended. Most of them did. Now the Portland building is 42 percent vacant, another 20 percent is used for storage, and the church no longer plans to move in. “It would be nice to have it back to where it was in 2006 - about three-quarters full,” said Steven Ballinger, who has maintained a Princeton University Press sales office in the building ...

(Québec) Les deux déléguées de l'Église de scientologie internationale qui ont été envoyées à Québec pour inaugurer une nouvelle église, rue Saint-Joseph, Wendy Beccaccini, à gauche, et Erin Banks, au centre, viennent de repartir en Californie après avoir supervisé l'ouverture de l'immeuble de Québec, la plus importante église de scientologie au Canada, à ce jour. Un investissement de 4,5 millions $. Elles sont photographiées avec Karine Bélanger, qui est la responsable des affaires publiques à Québec. Saviez-vous que cette église a ...

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Raised as Scientologists, Christie King Collbran and her husband, Chris, were recruited as teenagers to work for the elite corps of staff members who keep the Church of Scientology running, known as the Sea Organization, or Sea Org. They signed a contract for a billion years — in keeping with the church’s belief that Scientologists are immortal. They worked seven days a week, often on little sleep, for sporadic paychecks of $50 a week, at most. But after ...

LAS VEGAS - The First Church of Scientology in Las Vegas dedicated a new building on Saturday. The relentless rain didn't stop Saturday's dedication. "We have opened new churches in cultural epicenters before, but talk about center stage, planet earth," exclaimed Ecclesiastical Leader David Miscavige. "This one stands in a town so bright you can even see it glowing from deep space." Several public officials attended the grand opening, including Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman. "As the mayor of the fastest ...

Les scientologues ont inauguré en grande pompe hier leur lieu de culte nouvellement redessiné dans le quartier Saint-Roch pour répondre à tous les besoins de leur religion, projet de six millions de dollars. L’église sera ouverte au public à compter d’aujourd’hui. Fermeture d’une portion de la rue Saint-Joseph, scènes montées avec plusieurs caméras, plus d’une centaine de sièges placés à même la rue et des centaines de fidèles mobilisés malgré le froid : les scientologues n’ont pas ménagé les efforts pour ...

(Québec) La mystérieuse église à 6 millions $ que les scientologues inaugurent aujourd'hui dans la rue Saint-Joseph n'est pas seulement un lieu de culte. Elle renferme aussi un bureau fantôme, une salle où on vous sonde l'esprit à l'aide d'un «électromètre», et même un sauna. Aperçu du nouveau chef-lieu de la scientologie au Québec. Derrière la vitrine sud de la nouvelle église de scientologie, sur le boulevard Charest, se trouve un local vide. C'est le bureau réservé à Lafayette Ronald Hubbard, ...

The Church of Scientology plans to open a street-level cafe, bookstore, and chapel as part of its renovation of the 19th-century Hotel Alexandra, a long-faded Gothic beauty that for years has sat mostly empty at a prominent Boston crossroads. The revived building would add more street life to a corner of the South End that is seeing more activity, and signals that the city’s desire to have the neighborhood revitalized after the removal of the elevated Orange Line on Washington Street ...

Plus de 1 000 scientologues de partout en Amérique du Nord sont attendus à Québec, samedi prochain, pour prendre part aux festivités d’inauguration de la toute nouvelle église de scientologie. Il s’agit d’un revirement de situation pour l’église de scientologie de Québec, située sur la rue Saint-Joseph, dans le Nouvo Saint-Roch, qui prévoyait en début d’année ouvrir ses portes uniquement en mars. « Les rénovations sont terminées. Des équipes sont en train d’installer les dernières décorations. Nous sommes dans notre sprint ...

This year, Columbus is set to join a worldwide push in the Church of Scientology to improve its buildings and increase its reach. The Church of Scientology of Central Ohio has existed in Columbus for 30 years in various Downtown locations. Leaders plan to move the church from its current spot at 30 N. High St. to the former Time Warner building at 1266 Dublin Rd. on the Northwest Side. The new church will classify as an "Ideal Church of Scientology." ...

PASADENA — Renovation has finally started on the historic Braley Building in the heart of Old Pasadena, where it sat empty since being bought by the Church of Scientology in 2006. Church officials say it will be ready to open this summer. "They are taking out the insides, ready for renovation," church spokeswoman Linda Peters said. "We're just gearing up for the new year, ready to rock and roll, and it's going to go pretty fast." Almost immediately after the church ...