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Scientologists unveil Clearwater complex plansBy THOMAS C. TOBIN © St. Petersburg Times, published May 7, 1998 The final plans have been submitted to City Hall in video form and were publicized this week in a Scientology magazine. Wednesday, Scientology officials released renderings to the Times and discussed some details. Plans call for: A 300,000-square-foot building to be constructed on a church-owned vacant lot just east of Scientology's Fort Harrison Hotel. The five-story structure will house offices and space for Scientology training and counseling. It also will feature a tower with an eight-point Scientology cross. A seven-story auditorium just south of the new building. It will have 3,500-seats and tower over Court Street. Two skywalks. One would span S Fort Harrison Avenue, connecting the Fort Harrison Hotel with the new building. The other would span Franklin Street, linking the new building and auditorium. Three new floors of Scientology counseling rooms at the church's Sandcastle Hotel on Drew Street along the downtown waterfront. The addition would increase the height of the Sandcastle to six stories. An extensive renovation of the Fort Harrison Hotel to restore many of the 1920s vintage features that disappeared over the years, including small balconies on the facade. General improvements to the Coachman Building on the south side of Cleveland Street at Fort Harrison Avenue. The church, which leases the building, has an option to buy it. Scientology officials say the expansion will lead to a dramatic increase in the number of parishioners who travel to Clearwater, which has been the "spiritual mecca" for the controversial church since 1975. They estimate the number of visiting parishioners at 1,500 to 2,000 each week. The church predicts the expansion will accommodate 3,000 to 5,000 a week. Scientology also plans to increase its local staff by 1,000 in addition to the 1,000 now in Clearwater. According to the plans, the new building and auditorium will match the architecture of the Fort Harrison Hotel. Both will be constructed in the Mediterranean Revival style that was popular in Florida during the 1920s. The building will feature a "grand lobby" with sculptures depicting several concepts of Scientology; a first-floor chapel; at least nine small theaters for training and introductory films; a museum honoring the Sea Organization, the "fraternal order" that staffs the church and wears Navy-style uniforms; and a museum honoring Scientology's late founder, L. Ron Hubbard, including Hubbard's actual shipboard office from when he ran the church from a ship named Apollo. The lobby and museums will be open to public tours. Other features of the building include administrative offices, a bookstore, a library, 15 course rooms where Scientologists study together, and 270 rooms for one-on-one counseling. At 300,000 square feet, the building is much larger than any other private building downtown and will be among the largest buildings in Pinellas County. It is slightly smaller than the 340,000-square-foot building the church was planning last June. The auditorium, however, is significantly larger than the six-story, 2,500-seat facility envisioned when the church last submitted plans to the city in June. With 3,500 seats, it has space for 1,500 more people than Ruth Eckerd Hall. It will be built on land already owned by the church and will be called L. Ron Hubbard Hall. It too will be available to the public for community events, the church said. Scientology spokesman Brian Anderson said construction on the office and counseling building would begin "as soon as possible" and take about two years. Construction on the auditorium would begin when the building is finished, he said. Still unsettled is the parking scheme for the project. Last summer, church officials submitted plans for a 900-space parking garage, but city officials say that plan appears to have been dropped. The church and the city plan to meet later this month to discuss parking. "They seem like they're very anxious to work it out," said Rich Baier, the city's public works administrator. Anderson would not release a cost for the projects, saying the church is still negotiating contracts. In 1993, the church estimated the office and counseling building alone would cost $24-million. But that was for a 170,000-square-foot structure. For years, the church has been raising money through parishioner donations to finance the expansion project. Categories of donors range from the "Honor Roll" (those who give $10,000 or more) to the "Legion of Honor" (those who give $1-million or more). According to a recent fund-raising brochure, the "Legion of Honor" had five members and the church had raised at least $32-million for the project. Beginning Monday, Anderson said, church staff would answer questions about the project Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. and Sundays from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the church's Clearwater Building, 500 Cleveland St.
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LEARWATER -- After years of preparations and a series of design changes, the Church of Scientology says it has arrived at a "totally complete" design for its massive new complex in downtown.
