A Preview of Pinellas County's Newest Asset
While the Flag Building is devoted to religious services for Scientology parishioners
from throughout the world, parts of the building, including much of the first
floor, will be open to the public, and all will be invited and encouraged to visit.
The atrium-style Grand Lobby, with its windows three stories tall, will include
comfortable seating areas and permanent displays, including life-size bronze sculptures
depicting fundamental principles of the Scientology religion. The first floor
will also house an exhibit appropriately named "What is Scientology?", public
film rooms and a museum on the history of the Church of Scientology Flag Service
Organization.
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The expansive Grand Lobby (above) will feature sculptured
representations of many of the basic elements of the religious philosophy of Scientology,
enabling visitors to walk in and easily "see" key principles of the religion.
Some of the facilities and offices (left and below) now being finalized include
a museum and bookstore. The chapel (bottom left) will impart fundamentals of the
Scientology religion etched into stone and on stained glass.
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A floor-by-floor preview of the remainder of the building finds, on the second
floor, executive and administrative offices.
The third floor will be an international ministerial training center. Training
is one of the two central practices of the religion, and multiple course rooms
on this floor will have the capacity to instruct up to 1,400 students at one time.
Courses range from introductory to advanced, providing individuals the knowledge
and skills necessary to become Scientology ministers who can expertly provide
the spiritual counseling of the religion, the other central practice.
The fourth and fifth floors will house facilities for that counseling, known
as "auditing" (from the Latin word "audire" — to listen). A Scientology auditor
is there to listen and help a parishioner find the sources within himself of unwanted
conditions, problems and upsets in their lives and thereby resolve them. This
floor will have 300 individual auditing rooms.
On average, the Flag Building will be used daily by about 1,600 students and
parishioners receiving counseling, along with 1,200 staff to service them.
The sixth floor will contain additional administrative offices.
Further, the basement will have a fully modern kitchen and dining facilities
for Church staff who will be working in this building. The dining space will accommodate
up to 1,400 people at a time.
Additional features of the building include a comprehensive library of Scientology
materials, a chapel for Sunday Service and religious ceremonies, lush landscaping
and a fountain.
