![]() ![]() “I’m a person that doesn’t have the long 45-year baggage,” Jennings said, referencing Scientology’s arrival to Clearwater in 1975. Jennings said he is looking at Scientology as a “real estate development partner” as he would any other large land owner or institution. “This is not a partner, this is a person who is at war with us,” Bunker said. Īfter the council voted in April 2017 to buy the lot from the Clearwater Marine Aquarium for the downtown waterfront revitalization plan, the limited liability companies tied to the church began buying vast tracts of downtown property and keeping them vacant. Adjacent on two sides are the former City Hall, lower right, and Scientology's Oak Cove high-rise. The city of Clearwater's 1.4-acre waterfront lot on Pierce Street is shown in the center of this image. He made clear at the time his offer depended on the city not interfering with the church’s attempt to purchase the 1.4-acre vacant lot on Pierce Street, which is adjacent to Scientology’s religious retreat and across the street from the former City Hall. Miscavige met with City Council members individually in March 2017 to present the same retail proposal for renovating Cleveland Street that he is now showing to Jennings. ![]() “With the history that they’ve had here and the history of them stabbing us in our back every time we try to work with them, I just don’t see this panning out,” Bunker said. The Scientology-tied purchases are one reason why City Council member Mark Bunker said he does not believe Miscavige can be trusted. But more than half of those parcels have sat empty and undeveloped for years while the city is trying to bring life to the area with its ongoing $84 million renovation of the downtown waterfront. Since 2017, limited liability companies managed or operated by Scientology parishioners have purchased at least 145 parcels in downtown and the nearby North Marina Area, spending more than $111 million in cash. He declined to explain how recent Scientology-tied purchases of vast tracts of property downtown have proven the church to be a trustworthy partner. “The Church and Scientologists are as desirous of and committed to revitalization of downtown as any citizen or institution in Clearwater,” Shaw stated. ![]()
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