The Fort Harrison Hotel serves as the flagship building of the Flag Land Base, the Church of Scientology's spiritual headquarters in Clearwater, Florida. It is owned and operated by the Church of Scientology Flag Service Organization, Inc., a subsidiary of the Church of Scientology International.
The hotel has 11 stories and features 220 rooms, three restaurants, a swimming pool and a ballroom. The building is connected by a skywalk to the Flag Building.
History
The hotel opened in 1926 as the New Fort Harrison Hotel, replacing the former Fort Harrison Hotel. It was built by developer Ed Haley and was used as a community center for many years. The hotel was operated by Ransom E. Olds, inventor of the Oldsmobile, from 1926 until his death in 1950.
In 1953 the hotel was bought by the Jack Tar Hotels and became known as the "New Fort Harrison Hotel, a Jack Tar Hotel". The company added a cabana area to the building.
By the 1970s the hotel had begun to fall into disrepair. In 1975, the Church of Scientology purchased the building under the names "Southern Land Development and Leasing Corp" and "United Churches of Florida Inc". In 1976, the Church of Scientology's connection and the named purchasers was reported, by the Saint Petersburg Times, as was the Church's plan for a $2.8 million restoration and upgrade of the hotel.
In 2007, the Church announced that the hotel would undergo another $20 million restoration project, but not when the project would begin.
Notable incidents
In December 1926, daredevil Henry Roland scaled the building blindfolded.
The Fort Harrison has been the site of at least three suspicious deaths since 1975, most notably the death of Lisa McPherson, who died on December 5, 1995, after spending 17 days in room 174, of the building. The officially reported cause of death was a blood clot caused by dehydration and bedrest. This was later challenged in court. In 1997, a church spokesman acknowledged that McPherson died at the Fort Harrison, rather than on the way to the hospital. The church later retracted its spokesman's statement.
In February 1980, prior to McPherson’s death, a Scientologist named Josephus A. Havenith was found dead at the Fort Harrison. He was discovered in a bathtub filled with water hot enough to have burned his skin off. The officially reported cause of death was drowning, although the coroner noted that, when he was found, Havenith's head was not submerged.
In August 1988 Scientologist Heribert Pfaff died of a seizure in the Fort Harrison Hotel. He had recently stopped taking his seizure medication in favor of a vitamin program.
In 1997, Clearwater police received over 160 emergency calls from the Fort Harrison Hotel, but they were denied entry into the hotel by Scientology security.
Use in Scientology
The Fort Harrison Hotel is used by the Church of Scientology as an area in which to feed, train and house visiting practitioners. It provides both accommodations and "course & auditing" rooms, for Scientologists studying at high levels of Scientology. The Fort Harrison is joined by a walkway bridge over South Fort Harrison Avenue to the Flag Building on the other side of the street.
The hotel also is used for the Rehabilitation Project Force (RPH), a program used to punish members of the Church of Scientology Sea Organization for "serious deviations." Members of the church in this institution are subject to prison like conditions, forced labor, and many more acts against human rights. One Hanna Whitefield's affidavit describes the situation:
“Some of us slept on thin mattresses on the bare cement floor. Some had crude bunk beds. There was no place for clothes, so we lived out of suitcases and bags which were kept on bare floors. Some privacy was maintained by hanging sheets up between bunk beds and between floor mattresses. The women and men had separate bathrooms and toilets but they were small. We were not allowed to shower longer than 30 seconds. We had only to run through the shower and out the other end. There was no spare time for talk or relaxation. We awoke at 6:30 A.M. or earlier at times, did hard labor and heavy construction work and cleaning until late afternoon. After [a] quick shower and change of clothing, we had to audit each other and 'rehabilitate' ourselves until 10:30 P.M. or later each evening. There were no days off, four weeks a month. We ate our meals in the garage or at times in the dining rooms AFTER normal meals had ended. Our food consisted of leftovers from staff. On occasions which seemed like Christmas, we were able to prepare ourselves fresh meals if leftovers were insufficient.â€
Trivia
In 1965, the Rolling Stones wrote their hit song "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" at the hotel.
The hotel was once the spring training home of the Philadelphia Phillies.
See also
- Church of Spiritual Technology
- Dianetics
- Religious Technology Center
- Scientology
- Scientology controversies
References
External links
- Flag Service Organization - International Religious Retreat
- The Fort Harrison - Flag History > The Fort Harrison
- Flag.org Scientology in Clearwater
- QuickTime VR tour of the Fort Harrison (be sure to enable "Hot Spots")
- Property ownership record of the Fort Harrison Hotel
- Corporate filing of the FSO
- www.whyaretheydead.info Web site investigating the various suspicious deaths that occurred in the hotel
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