Heavy machinery is used Tuesday to demolish the Gray Moss Inn in downtown Clearwater. The Church of Scientology Religious Trust will use the land to build a counseling and training center.

And now, the next Walt Disney Studios— the Church of Scientology! That is, if entrepreneurs connected with the Hollywood based cult can muscle into the film business with their proposal to homogenize films by tailoring them to the tastes of the unwashed masses. It all began last July, when Future Films, a new, eccentric studio, began running ads in Variety and the Hollywood Reporter touting its revolutionary ideas. No one knew what to make of it all. The grand concept, to ...

PAY-TO-PLAY MAY RULE ON THE SUNSET STRIP, BUT WOULD-BE ROCKERS WILL BE glad to hear that there's still one Hollywood hotspot where the gigs are free, easy to book, and where an enthusiastic crowd is guaranteed. Sound like a rock & roll heaven on earth? Actually, it's the Scientology Celebrity Center (5930 Franklin Ave.), where every Sunday night at 7:30 you can find an open-mike talent show that ain't fooling when it boasts "Everybody Is Welcome." Whether you're an Operating Thetan ...

On a 3,000-acre ranch in rural Humboldt County, devotees of Church of Scientology-founder L. Ron Hubbard are building a 375-foot-long underground vault. The vault is being built on the Sunset View Ranch in Petrolia, a small town located about 20 miles south of Ferndale, by the Church of Spiritual Technology (COST). COST is linked to the controversial Church of Scientology, whose operations, according to court documents, include a lack of financial records, public policy violations, deceptive practices and the maintenance of ...

The Church of Scientology said it plans to tear down the Gray Moss Inn and build a six-story, $42-million religious training center in its place. The 170,000-square-foot building would be at 215 S Fort Harrison Ave., across the street from the Fort Harrison Hotel, which Scientologists use as an international retreat. Construction could start in May and last two years. The glass-covered building would feature a covered walkway above Fort Harrison Avenue, and a 65-foot-tall atrium in a lobby. A company ...

Five companies are suing the Church of Scientology for more than $127,000, claiming that the organization has failed to pay its bills for construction work and equipment. Besides those lawsuits, the Scientologists have settled five others within the past two years from companies that claimed they were owed more than $39,000 for items ranging from travel services to construction materials. Scientology was founded by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, the author of Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. Scientologists ...

The church has adopted the terminology and trappings of traditional theologies. But the IRS is not convinced. Since its founding some 35 years ago by the late science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, Scientology has worked hard to shore up its religious profile for the public, the courts and the Internal Revenue Service. In the old days, for example, those who purchased Hubbard's Scientology courses were called "students." Today, they are "parishioners." The group's "franchises" have become "missions." And Hubbard's teachings, ...

Testimonials of the famous are prominent in the church's push for acceptability. John Travolta and Kirstie Alley are the current headliners. The Church of Scientology uses celebrity spokesmen to endorse L. Ron Hubbard's teachings and give Scientology greater acceptability in mainstream America. As far back as 1955, Hubbard recognized the value of famous people to his fledgling, off-beat church when he inaugurated "Project Celebrity." According to Hubbard, Scientologists should target prominent individuals as their "quarry" and bring them back like trophies ...

CLEARWATER — City commissioners presided over a debate Thursday on a thorny topic that had not raged in City Hall for years — whether the Church of Scientology helps or hurts Clearwater. And in a side issue, a Scientology official said the organization would rather renovate its existing buildings in downtown Clearwater and possibly consolidate them, rather than buy more local land. The organization owns 12 parcels, mostly in downtown Clearwater, worth more than $21-million. A Scientology planning official said the ...

[This is a reprint of an article published on December 23, 1988 in the St. Petersburg Times.]

NEWKIRK, OK – A proposed drug treatment and rehabilitation center which could be in operation on Indian land at the former Chilocco Indian School north of Newkirk by June 15th may be part of a notorious religious cult. Narconon was approved for a 75-bed facility by the State Health Planning Commission in January of this year as part of The Chilocco Development Authority. The projected cost is $400,000 for renovation and the five Indian tribes involved are projected to receive $16,000,000 ...

After years of sparring with the townsfolk and veiling itself in secrecy, the Church of Scientology has succeeded in turning Clearwater into its spiritual mecca. Scientologists quietly run teen nightclubs, schools, day-care centers, management consulting firms and other businesses, records and interviews show. Now the strategy of the organization, longtime observers say, is to confront controversy, gain converts and make money - lots of it. Scientology's Clearwater operation brings in $1.5-million to $2-million a week, say church watchers who include Clearwater ...

CLEARWATER — In 1975 the Church of Scientology, cloaked in secrecy, made this waterfront city its international headquarters. A lengthy outcry ensued when the public became aware the sect — under another name — bought a Clearwater landmark, the Fort Harrison Hotel. The Scientologists subsequently bought many other parcels of downtown Clearwater property, posting guards to keep the curious at bay. When the public and press asked questions about the aims of the Church of Scientology, sect leaders became mum about ...

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court, rejecting an appeal filed by the Church of Scientology of California to obtain government tax records, ruled Tuesday that the public has no right to get information kept by the Internal Revenue Service. The tax agency "has no duty under the Freedom of Information Act" to disclose internal records, even if names and other confidential information could be easily deleted, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist said. Civil rights attorneys denounced the unanimous decision, saying the ruling ...

Description of video is in italics. VO=VOICEOVER shot of Church of Scientology, Los Angeles; apparently group of ex-members VOICEOVER: The Church of Scientology, one of the largest and richest new religious movements, is being sued for a billion dollars by former members for fraud and breach of trust. They regard Scientology as a dangerous cult. group of Scientologists VO: Yet the church goes on expanding, making converts and claiming it is "The Road to Total Freedom". ''"Panorama" opening credits; while music ...

CLEARWATER — The Church of Scientology paid $4.6 million Friday for a 200-unit Skycrest apartment complex to house its growing staff. The church now owns 11 pieces of property — five of which are used as dormitories. And while sect staff members are getting new lodgings, residents at Hacienda Gardens Apartments, 551 N. Saturn Ave., are being shown the door. They can stay at the complex until their current leases expire — but no longer. "We purchased it to provide additional ...

CLEARWATER — First there was Mount Vesuvius, then Mount St. Helens. And now — Mount Fort Harrison. The Church of Scientology's Clearwater headquarters is the site of an "active" volcano set to ooze molten lava — albeit the imitation kind — from a 20-foot fabrication towering above the hotel courtyard at 210 S. Fort Harrison Ave. Mount Fort Harrison, set to spew its stuff around 9:30 p.m. today, is the grand finale of the sect's anniversary celebration of the publication of ...

Therapy as Religion Though the Berendo Street headquarters is the hub of Scientology activity in Los Angeles, the church's showplace is its Celebrity Center at Franklin and Bronson. A grand gothic chateau built for William Randolph Hearst in the 1920s, this complex of Scientology offices and apartments has retained much of its charm, replete with garden grounds and flowing fountains The idyllic setting is reinforced as you enter the mansion's foyer. The walls are lined with original art, and music from ...

The will of Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard does not disclose the value of his estate, but a church leader said it was worth "tens of millions of dollars" and that 99% of it had been left to the church. Hubbard, 74, died Jan. 24 at a ranch near San Luis Obispo. His will was signed the day before in a scrawl that was accompanied by his thumbprint. It provides a trust for his wife and four of his ...

The Church of Scientology filed a petition with the California Supreme Court seeking to halt a $25-million damage suit against the church by a former member. About 800 church supporters rallied outside the state court building in downtown San Francisco after marching nine miles from the Golden Gate Bridge. Rev. Ken Hoden, president of the Church of Scientology in Los Angeles and the church's attorney, filed the petition with the Supreme Court for an "immediate stay of trial" in the Los ...