CLEARWATER, Fla., March 31, 2009 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ —-In connection with the Church's rapid international growth and the continuing expansion of its spiritual headquarters in Florida, the Church of Scientology held the grand opening of the Fort Harrison, the second facility completed in just the last 18 months to accommodate the influx of thousands of parishioners to the Church's spiritual headquarters and religious retreat As part of its continuing expansion, on March 14, 2009 the Church of Scientology Flag Service Organization ...

[Picture of interior] [DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD | Times] [Caption:] The Crystal Ballroom at the Fort Harrison Hotel houses a 12,000-crystal chandelier. The hotel opened 82 years ago as the New Fort Harrison Hotel, and was a focal point of the community during the Great Depression and World War II. CLEARWATER — Marble floors from Spain. Gold leaf painted on elaborate crown moldings. Richly colored carpets from South Africa. Decorative plaster cornices. A 12,000-crystal chandelier for the ballroom. The Church of Scientology ...

CLEARWATER — The largest building downtown and its little sister are hard to miss. The Mediterranean-revival Flag Building occupies an entire city block. It is connected via an overhead walkway to the landmark Fort Harrison Hotel across the street to the west. The Church of Scientology owns both, and each is in a phase of multimillion-dollar construction. The hotel is shrouded in scaffolding as it gets gussied up in a $30 million renovation project started in April. Looking from outside, the ...

Church of Scientology, USD70+ million Hotel Renovations with Nova HRC Nova Hotel Renovation & Construction selected as General Contractor Clearwater, FL - Sep 2, 2008 (PRN): Nova HRC, a leader in hotel and resort renovations has just completed a USD$30 Million hotel renovation of the Oak Cove Hotel for the Church of Scientology, and is in the process of renovating their historical Fort Harrison Hotel USD$40 Million. Nova Hotel Renovation & Construction will continue to build its relationship with the Church ...

CLEARWATER — In one of its biggest purchases in years, the Church of Scientology has added 5 acres to its already defining downtown presence. The $10-million cash purchase signals the demise of an ambitious waterfront condominium project proposed by a group of Scientology parishioners who assembled parcels immediately north of downtown four years ago and shared visions of turning downtown Clearwater into another Naples. Despite having no experience in condo development, Triangle Development partners Ben Kugler and Ron Pollack hoped to ...

CLEARWATER — The Church of Scientology — the largest downtown property owner — expects to begin work on the interior of its world spiritual headquarters almost 10 years after it first began construction of the building. The organization has hired Staubach Co., an international construction management firm founded by former NFL star Roger Staubach, to oversee the $45 million interior design of the six-story Mediterranean Revival building. The church hasn't yet hired a general contractor, but work on the 380,000-square-foot building, ...

There is a national media storm surrounding the Church of Scientology. Celebrity members have said Scientology saved their lives. Celebrity ex-member Jason Beghe spoke out against Scientology in a series of YouTube videos. There has been widespread criticism and debate among Scientology proponents and adversaries. Tiger Weekly’s own Web site was submerged in one such debate in response to an article published April 23, “I visited the Scientology Center of Baton Rouge … and lived to write about it.” Local ex-Scientologist ...

CLEARWATER — Marble floors with patterned inlay. Plush carpeting. Mahogany paneling. Decorated crown moldings. Marble sinks. Hi-def TVs. A 32-station fitness center. An elegant restaurant. Luxury touches abound inside downtown Clearwater's newest waterfront hotel, the gleaming 240-room Oak Cove. But don't rush to pack your bags. Oak Cove is just for Scientologists. Recently opened after a $26-million renovation, the hotel is Scientology's newest lodging option in Clearwater, the church's international spiritual headquarters. Oak Cove also is the first in a series ...

[Picture / Caption: "A bomb squad robot heads into the alley behind the Dianetics and Scientology Life Improvement Center at 336 First Ave. N in St. Petersburg on Thursday after the Scientology headquarters in Clearwater received a bomb threat. A large suitcase found in the alley behind the St. Petersburg office did not contain a bomb."] CLEARWATER — The Church of Scientology was told again Thursday it could not have a court order restraining Anonymous protesters this weekend, largely because the ...

CLEARWATER — The Church of Scientology is in announcement mode again, this time saying it will spend $20-million on a major upgrade of its iconic Fort Harrison Hotel. But what church officials aren't saying is exactly when the work will start. So, expect some eye rolls. That's because across the street from the Fort Harrison is Scientology's seven-story Super Power building. Stuccoed, trimmed and painted on the outside, the huge building is unfinished and vacant on the inside. And, remarkably, it's ...

Tessa Mayes is the first reporter to have gone undercover in the London Celebrity Centre of the Church of Scientology. It is, she finds, like a pious version of Pop Idol. The adherents want to be celebrities at least as much as Scientologists ‘A culture is only as great as its dreams and its dreams are dreamed by artists,’ wrote L. Ron Hubbard, who founded the Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre in 1969, 15 years after he formed the church itself. ...

Scientology has started a new propaganda offensive in Europe, opening new offices in capitals across the continent. German authorities are responding by increasing their efforts to monitor the controversial organization. At first sight, the building in Berlin's Charlottenburg neighborhood looks like a run-of-the-mill office complex: a functional, seven-story construction covered with glass windows. The young receptionist is dressed in black and wears a futuristic-looking headset. But for Scientologists, the building is a chapel, a place for studying their own doctrine and, ...

Scientology Moves On Languishing Flagship Posted Feb 1, 2007 by Vidisha Priyanka Updated Feb 1, 2007 at 03:37 PM By BAIRD HELGESON The Tampa Tribune CLEARWATER - The Church of Scientology’s mammoth new spiritual shrine has stood vacant and unfinished for years, its dusty Mediterranean-style shell surrounded by patches of scrubby grass and “no trespassing” signs. Now church officials say they are ready to resume work on the building as it has racked up more than $55,000 in fines for not ...

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 ...

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 ...

In the works for decades, the closely guarded spiritual training program will be revealed in Clearwater. CLEARWATER - Matt Feshbach believes he has super powers. He senses danger faster than most people. He appreciates beauty more deeply than he used to. He says he outperforms his peers in the money management industry. He heightened his powers of perception in 1995 when he went to Los Angeles and became the first and so far only "public" Scientologist to take a highly classified ...

After a period of worldwide growth, the church is turning its attention back to expansion at its Clearwater headquarters. CLEARWATER - A global expansion by the Church of Scientology delayed construction of a flagship building in this city it considers its spiritual headquarters, church officials say. But after spending hundreds of millions of dollars from Madrid to Mountain View, Calif., the church is once again turning its attention to downtown Clearwater in a big way. The church plans to finish its ...

The faded little downtown area of Clearwater, Florida, has a beauty salon, a pizza parlor and one or two run-down bars, as well as a bunch of withered bungalows and some old storefronts that look as if they haven't seen customers in years. There are few cars and almost no pedestrians. There are, however, buses — a fleet of gleaming white and blue ones that slowly crawl through town, stopping at regular intervals to discharge a small army of tightly organized, ...

Some say it's the only true way toward a happier existence. Others label it a new religion that soon will be accepted in society, like the Mormon Church. And then there are the people who call it a cult. Scientology has been called many things in its half century of existence, and even now, it is a controversial organization. The word Scientology is taken from the Latin scio, which means "knowing in the fullest sense of the word," and the Greek ...

By his account, Tom Cruise owes his cool head, defeat of dyslexia and, in a way, his unstoppable stardom to Scientology. But Scientology has much to thank Tom Cruise for as well. His glowing adherence to Scientology and the initiation of his bride-to-be, actress Katie Holmes, into the off-beat and oft-maligned system of beliefs has stirred a surge of interest. The search engine company Lycos reported that “Scientology” had leaped into the top 50 search terms last week for the first ...

Human beings have come a long way in the past, oh, three million years or so. But while man has now advanced to the stage where he can split an atom and level a city, it’s hard to say he’s made much progress in understanding himself. But according to the Church of Scientology, that is all about to change. Or rather, it already has for those who have opted to come join the Scientologist flock since the Church was first formally ...