The Fort Harrison Hotel, Where Scientologists Check In... But Minds and Wallets Check Out - Page 4
"We're ready," said Scientology spokesman Tommy Davis. "All the money has been put aside, and the plans are in place. As soon as we get the go-ahead from the city, we'll begin."
Balancing the needs of the city, its residents and those visiting must be a genuine challenge for those charged with operation the city and they know that people have questions, unfortunately there are very few straight answers from Scientology officials:
"People say, 'My gosh, why is it taking so long?' The public doesn't understand the church's sense of priorities — why they would leave such a large building unfinished for an unusual amount of time," said City Manager Bill Horne."We look forward to them getting it complete," said Mayor Frank Hibbard.
And what about all those fines being imposed at $250 a day?
When it's finally finished, the city's code enforcement board will review the fines and decide whether to forgive any.City officials get asked why they're not taking harsher measures. Horne said the city treats the church like any other landowner: "Our building codes and state statutes give property owners quite a bit of leeway to get a structure completed."
Forgive my skepticism, but I'll bet Scientology has other ways of persuading city officials to see things their way.
So what is the Super Power Building supposed to do anyway?
The church says the Flag Building will eventually house the bulk of Scientology's religious services in Clearwater. It will have about 300 rooms for Scientology's core practice of "auditing."The building is nicknamed "Super Power" because it will be the only place in the world where a highly classified Scientology program called Super Power will be offered. Its upper floors will house special equipment that church officials say is designed to heighten one's perceptions. The specifics are secret; like much of Scientology training, details aren't revealed until one pays to take the course.
Wright said the building has cost about $40 million so far, and the church expects to spend $50 million finishing its elaborate interior. He leafed through 800 sheets of construction drawings for it. "It's been planned to within an inch of its life," he said.
That's the watered down version, here's what Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard has to say about the function and purpose of the Super Power Building:
"A super fantastic, but confidential series of rundowns that can be done on anybody whether Dn [Dianetics] Clear or not that puts the person into fantastic shape unleashing Super Power of a thetan. This means that puts Scientologists into a new realm of ability enabling them to create a new world. It puts world Clearing within reach of the future. This is a parallel rundown to Power in Saint Hills which is taken by the Dn Clear. It consists of 12 separate high power rundowns which are brand new and enter realms of the tech never before approached. Power is still very much in use on the Grade Chart but is for those who didn't go Clear on Dn.Continued on the next page
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