The Chicago “ideal” Org building at 650 S Clark St. Chicago
Scientology sometimes sends out the most self-incriminating “promotional” items….
With a subject line “Yeah, yeah, I know — I’ve heard that before!” it is pretty clear they recognize that everyone inside the bubble knows they tell one another an endless stream of lies about their accomplishments and what is coming next. And they repeat those lies over and over and nobody ever protests: “Hey, you told us the ideal org was going to be done in 6 months in 2010 and have been telling us the same lie every fundraiser since” — but they do acknowledge the lies in a less forthright manner “yeah, yeah, we told you this before but…”
Then in the body of the email are more lies.
“Closer than you know!!” — ha ha. They have been told the Grand Opening was “imminent” since the summer time. So, it could not be closer than you know, because they “knew” it was going to happen months ago.
But, rest assured, despite the endless stream of lies — in ALL CAPS just to be sure you understand how much certainty they have on this — “CHICAGO IS GETTING DONE!”
And then, because they have told so many lies about this before, they have to come out and promise (again, in ALL CAPS) NO FUNDRAISING and NO RECRUITMENT. More new lies to pile onto the old lies.
Pretty soon they are going to have to put out promo pieces headlined: “We are DEFINITELY NOT LYING lying this time about NOT LYING when we told you we were not lying about the last time we told you something….”
They bought this building in 2007.
The photo above was taken in August of 2022. The renovations were complete. They even installed the signage on the front of the building, but then had to cover it up. They don’t have the staff to open it and Miscavige is scared to go out in public. So, it sits empty.
Though, it is not by a long shot, the worst story in this Ideal Org boondoggle. Miscavige’s home org in Philly has had a decrepit building purchased and sitting untouched for a decade. New Haven and Battle Creek even longer. Toronto, a building they have owned since the 70’s was vacated and has sat unused and unrenovated for many, many years. Boston is a tragedy of missteps, losing their once beautiful building on a prominent street. The two buildings purchased in Zimbabwe for “ideal orgs” have been taken over by squatters….
Oh this is funny seeing this.
I remember driving by this “ideal” building over a year ago, to our favorite sushi place.
It’s a nice redone area of the south Loop, and I remember thinking “wow what a dump, Ohhh, Scientology. LOL, ok.”
How many Scientologists are even IN Chicago?
I know it’s a huge metro area, but I’ve been here all my life and never heard anything about it. Not even about any of their “amazing outreach programs” I’m sure they go on about.
Found this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKrOF3Wje40
Scienbollocksy “truth”: what you feed will grow…as in:
Little Lord “Ass Ahoy!” ‘s offshore accounts…and his Hubbardian sociopathy.
It’s a lawyered-up, give-zero-fucks, multi-decade con and international criminal corporation.
Total failure awaits this Chicago iteration of The Borg, and it will be a blessing for those who FINALLY realize that scientology is just toxic garbage and end up walking away.
Oh, and about a decade ago the CofS had some sort of PR campaign in cities where empty buildings had at that point been sitting derelict for between several years and a decade, to get pieces in the local newspaper about how the properties would very soon be made into “new” churches to meet demand for services. I think I’ve seen that in at least one place they did that around 2010, and then came back and repeated the claim around 2012; and I can think of one mission that briefly moved to upgraded new quarters, and did the same.
I guess that the demand wasn’t really there and that “expansion” wasn’t really working out as imagined, and hasn’t in all they years since?
Yes, shout it to the world in caps; “NO FUNDRAISING…NO RECRUITMENT…we’re done with that.”
But I can almost hear the Still Ins’ thoughts as they read this…”Riiiigggghhhht…uh huh…”
FSMs also depend on fundraising, right? The orgs could stop but what are effectively commissioned sales reps, would continue on.
I thought FSM commissions came from selling Bridge but then by supreme luck I managed to avoid being an FSM so I don’t really…though, yes, now that I think of it, sure, FSMs get a rake-off for selling status’s, etc., and since there’s hardly any “Bridge” being done any more then they have to be depending upon straight donos.
I remember back when I was on staff that FSMs would try to get commissions for routing public onto free services like the introductory films and lectures only to be told that if ya don’t flow money into the org, ya don’t get no commissions.
Yep. That’s how desperate things were. Probably still are.
One of the great ironies of this group: Ostensibly, org activities focus on a) the discovery and cultivation of the personal greatness of each individual and b) helping individuals to precisely identify and remove any roadblocks to such. Yet their means of procuring and handling personnel would make a first semester student in any business school cringe or, worse, laugh and wonder if Scientology’s HR practices are a joke.
There is no shortage of research to show that an organization’s performance correlates to the conditions and treatment of its talent. People—staff and Sea Org in particular—are, per Policy, treated so poorly, it makes one gasp. How public are treated is not far behind. Scientology has evolved into an environment of abuse and bullying. How these attitudes and practices are coming back to “bite them” should be crystal clear to anyone who has completed The Consequences Rundown (part of Super Power) or a host of other (ironically) C of S services.
Why don’t they genuinely ask themselves: What did we do to ‘pull this in’? #shrinking
“No fundraising”. !? Like HOW are they going to propose to finish off – or sell off – the eyesore?
During the ideal urg fundraising in Atlanta, one thing that was said in all earnestness at events was “we’ve never been so close!” When it was spoken, there was always a rejection, as while true, it didn’t really say how close “we” were to being done with the insanity.
So nice to be free of that insanity.
“Closer than you know!!”
As the saying goes, “‘Close’ only counts with horseshoe and hand grenades.” Anyone doubting the wisdom of this saying should try telling their boss that the project due today (let alone years ago) is “getting done.” And then word clear your pronouncement while you’re standing at your desk packing up your personal belongings.
But no actual date projected. It’s like the old math exercise where if you keep getting halfway closer to something, you never actually get there, because there’s always a half remaining, no matter how small it has gotten….
And if I have it right, I’ve read that at one point about 2 years ago they actually uncovered the signs and had them and the rest of the building lit up and apparently ready to open – but then covered them back up again, closed the blinds and shut it all down. That indeed shows that they can get so close to opening you wouldn’t think it wasn’t going to go ahead, and yet failed to do so due to some of their inscrutable incompetence and obsession with magical thinking (like maybe that they can’t have the opening ceremony until all the execs go through the new “golden age” training Flag, that is supposed to somehow result in doing the same thing but producing different results).
I am in the local market. I have heard nothing. Thank you for the update.
The release of OT IX and X is ‘closer than we know’ too. It has been for 35 years.
Closer than you know to being released to land in the trashcan (Nay! dumpster) of eternally failed projects.
Honestly, I just don´t think it´s even possible to called Miscavige for: Mr….
Sociopath, scumbag etc is more close to reality.
This new approach reads like the seriously hung over binge drinker who swears he’ll never do it again, and then concludes with “and this time I mean it!”
Chicago wouldn’t have a proper org without Regges.
Hardsell is policy. It will come back, someday. It’ll be discovered as “lost tech” and brought back.
Hardsell is required when you are selling quackery.
Totalitarian follower control helps, rather it “works”, it’s what’s keeping Scientology “working” …
Also dishing out black eyes to scapegoated failing staff who are “sabotaging” Scientology’s expansion also helps. (Per Knowledge Reports PL)
Add in RPFing, and some Truth Rundown brainwashing too, that “works” too.
There is no org without the regges. The place can’t operate (for long) on pure postulates!
Mike, A correction: Chicago bought that building in 2007 (I remember the event when it was announced, I was there).
Thanks Dave. I got the wrong date from a media article, so appreciate you correcting. I have fixed it in the post.
Maybe whoever wrote that media article was told that by someone who was doing a PR function for the Chicago org, for some PR reason, maybe because they didn’t want the media to tell people that they had already owned the building for 8 years and still hadn’t moved in yet. Just speculating.
Dave, a whole bunch of the buildings were bought at the peak of the bubble, including also Philadelphia and St. Louis (which they have been trying unsuccessfully to sell off again) in 2007, meaning Scientology paid top dollar for properties that in some cases probably still haven’t recovered their value since the market crash.
Battle Creek and New Haven were purchased even earlier and are now at the two decade mark.
Yes, the Toronto building was purchased in 1978 or 1979 for about 2 million. So, fund raising has been ongoing for more than 40 years. The building was used for a few years by the org before they moved and lost most of the staff.