Dec. 28–The Church of Scientology is eager to move to a new Sacramento address. But 14 months after buying the downtown Ramona building for $4.75 million, with plans of converting it into its new local headquarters, the church has yet to call the movers. "Many things need to get done" before the 77-year-old Ramona is ready to physically accommodate its new owner, church spokesman Mike Klagenberg said last week. The list includes: getting City Hall's permission to begin a planned $3 ...

CLEARWATER - After years of delay, there are visible signs that the Church of Scientology's ambitious plans to expand its downtown campus are again moving forward. Several months ago, cranes began piecing together a four-story, 275-space parking garage at East Avenue and Franklin Street. It is expected to be finished by April. On Tuesday, the Church of Scientology will go before the city's Community Development Board to request a transfer of development rights from the site of its power plant on ...

The controversial Church of Scientology has been granted a subsidy of more than £270,000 a year in public money, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal. Scientology's lawyers used European rulings and Government equality regulations to force the City of London corporation to grant an 80 per cent rates discount for its new centre near St Paul's Cathedral. The "church", it is believed, is now pressing to pay nothing at all. The corporation confirmed that this discount was on the basis that Scientology ...

PASADENA — The last holdout tenant in the Braley Building has come to an agreement with the Church of Scientology, which is now geared up for a speedy takeover of the Old Pasadena landmark. La Fornaretta restaurant owner Cesare DiLorenzo said he closed after coming to a "satisfactory agreement" with church officials negotiating to buy out his 19-year lease. The financial details are "really personal," he said, declining to disclose the amount. "We met halfway," said Di Lorenzo, whose restaurant operated ...

Scientology is perhaps best-known for its most famous practitioner, Tom Cruise. But in this beachy Tampa suburb, Scientologists are neighbors... CLEARWATER, Fla. — Scientology is perhaps best-known for its most famous practitioner, Tom Cruise. But in this beachy Tampa suburb, Scientologists are neighbors, business owners, real-estate investors — and a growing force that makes some uncomfortable. The Church of Scientology, despite its official status as a tax-exempt religious organization, is nonetheless the largest taxpayer in downtown Clearwater, home to its worldwide ...

Some speculate a proposed PSTA / developer deal is driven by Scientology plans or politics. CLEARWATER - From one perspective, the discussions that took place in front of the camera last week seemed pretty straight-forward. The county's bus service, the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority, has a bus depot in downtown Clearwater that is too small and too crowded. Some businessmen want the PSTA's land for private development, and they are in a position to acquire a nearby site on Drew Street ...

Home to the institutions of the European Union, Brussels markets itself as an ideal home for any kind of international organisation. But the city has been less than welcoming to its latest foreign guest: the Church of Scientology. To the annoyance of the church's senior officials, a newly purchased three-storey property earmarked to become their Brussels HQ has been invaded by squatters. But their anger with the illegal lodgers is nothing compared to their beef with the Brussels authorities, who have ...

The building which opened a week ago in the City of London in a sea of confetti could have been any new five-star hotel or corporate headquarters. On its first day open, men and women in matching uniforms and automatic smiles darted across marble floors, the smell of fresh paint in the air. The grandiose premises now belonging to the Church of Scientology is a multimillion pound launchpad for the group's expansion in the UK. While Scientologists describe their "applied religion" ...

Tom Cruise was, unfortunately, absent, along with his partner and biggest recruit, Katie Holmes; and John Travolta, that other high-profile Hollywood convert to the Church of Scientology, was away filming. So those who turned up in rain yesterday for the opening of its imposing new premises in London had to make do with a pipe band and the solid figure of Chief Superintendent Kevin Hurley, local divisional commander of the City of London Police. There cannot have been many such occasions ...

The rain bounced off a podium fit for an Oscar ceremony, soaking the lavish red carpet, and pouring down the collars of celebrants sporting incongruous California tans and sunglasses. And still they smiled. Each wore a lapel badge marking them out as followers of one of the most controversial and fastest growing "religious" movements in the world, the Church of Scientology. For two hours yesterday Hollywood glitz supplanted British mundanity on the streets of London as the most senior figures within ...

DEREK perches on his seat among the VIPs, eyes blazing rapturously. "Do you have any idea how huge this is for Scientology?" he says, reading the sign over the garlanded new £ 40million headquarters of the "church of Scientology London" in the heart of the Square Mile. "For how long have we dreamed of this! It's like the tipping point. With this base, we'll be recruiting the people who control the planet!" Behind him, beaming ecstatically despite the driving rain, an ...

'So what is it then, Scientology?' asks a contractor delivering supplies to builders who were putting the finishing touches yesterday to Number 146, Queen Victoria Street, one of the City of London's most exclusive addresses. 'I mean,' continues the contractor , 'I've heard a lot about it. Is it based on science? Who's the big man in charge?' Such questions are likely to be asked more often from today when the controversial Church of Scientology opens its biggest UK centre in ...

Scientologists describe their religion as a cathartic journey toward happiness and clarity of mind. Church of Scientology critics call it kooky science fiction disguised as religion. Whatever you believe, the church says it is growing. Although the church's membership remains a much-debated mystery, its land holdings tell the story of a robust organization in the midst of a new chapter of growth. Worldwide, Scientologists say they have bought 21 buildings they plan to turn into churches. Still, some former Scientologists and ...

Neighbors' reaction on group's relocation mixed Pasadena — Scientologists will soon have a sizable presence in Old Pasadena. Last week, local members of the Church of Scientology purchased the historic Braley Building, at 35 S. Raymond Ave., and immediately donated it to their church. "We have been looking for a building for quite some time now," said Eden Stein, president of the church's Pasadena branch. "People love beautiful things; this will be a beautiful space for our parishioners to go to." ...